A thunderstorm rolled into Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea from the west on Monday, August 16, with little warning to locals about the Papua New Guinea storm due to sparse radar coverage (figure 1). Oracle our new ‘radar’ system captured the storm, lightning, and heavy rainfall perfectly, well in advance and before the storm made its way through Port Moresby. […]
Weather has an enormous impact on the aviation industry all around the world. Fog, heavy rainfall, low cloud all decrease visibility and make it difficult for aircraft to land on the runway. While thunderstorms, strong cross winds and wind shear can generate serious disruptions to flight schedules or flight diversions. The rising and falling air in thunderstorms can cause severe turbulence for passengers and […]
During Australia’s black summer of 2019/2020 7.4 million hectares of land burned. The fires were fuelled by prevalent dry and warm north-westerly winds, lightning, extreme temperatures, heatwaves, and below average rainfall. The Climate and Atmospheric Science journal reported that a “super-outbreak” of fire thunderstorms during Australia’s Black Summer released the energy of about 2,000 Hiroshima-sized nuclear weapons. While we had some respite last […]
A negative Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) has been declared this week, which is likely to have an impact on Australia’s weather during the reminder of winter and into spring. This week’s mean IOD value to July 18 is minus 0.62, which is below the negative IOD threshold of minus 0.4. As it turns out, the weekly mean […]
Australian ports are exposed to extreme weather events that can halt productivity and compromise the safety of port personnel. Ships and ports are on a very tight schedule and delays due to weather can cost thousands of dollars per day. Shipping is one of Australia’s largest sectors, in fact more than 95% of Australian exports are transported by sea. That’s […]
Could the first back-to-back La Nina event occur this year? The Pacific Ocean has been in a neutral phase since the last La Niña came to an end back in March of this year. This means that both ocean and atmospheric conditions across the equatorial Pacific are currently acting normal for this time of […]
One industry was left feeling salty after rain hit WA this week. Salt is one of the most widely used substances on earth and Australia is home to some of the largest salt lakes in the world. The Dampier, Port Hedland and Lake MacLeod salt lakes in Western Australia have the capacity to collectively produce approximately 10.3 million tonnes of salt a year. Much of […]
Our development team have been working hard on the latest set of upgrades to our industry leading forecast model, Opticast. We are in the final stages of testing and keen to share some of the key enhancements. What is Opticast? Weatherzone’s Opticast is an industry leading high-precision forecast system, optimised for both “real-time nowcasting” as well as up to 15 days. It is one […]
Most of Australia is tipped to see above average rain in the coming months, despite a recent change in ocean temperatures delaying the declaration of a negative Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD). Over the last 6-7 weeks, sea surface temperatures across the Indian Ocean have been in a pattern climatologists refer to as a negative phase of the IOD. This simply means that we have […]
Australia’s tropical cyclone season is officially underway, but we may not see much activity for few months yet. The season runs from November to April, and for mining operators and businesses across northern Australia, 2026-27 is shaping up to be a season where the headline numbers and the real risk may not line up. On […]
A positive Indian Ocean Dipole is underway, but this one is unlikely to deliver the textbook dry spring and summer that businesses have come to expect from the pattern. The Bureau of Meteorology officially declared a positive IOD on Tuesday, October 27, which typically like El Niño can cause drier and warmer conditions over parts of […]
Waters off Indonesia have cooled in recent weeks, an indication that a positive Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) event could be developing. It’s an important climate driver for Australia, and it could shape rainfall and temperatures heading into summer, with flow-on effects for farmers, energy and other industries. What is the Indian Ocean Dipole? The IOD […]
Leonora, WA, had its wettest September day on record earlier this month. Three weeks later, more than 1.3 million lightning pulses were detected within 800 km of the town in 48 hours. Why is a stalled trough delivering storms to mining country, and what it could mean for operations? The DTN Total Lightning Network detected […]
