Heatwave refuses to take public holiday
It’s a public holiday in three states and one territory this Monday, but the heatwave forgot to take the day off. The early autumn heatwave which has baked large parts of southern Australia for several days already is working...
Colossal rainfall over the Nullarbor
Over 4 months of rainfall has fallen in a single day in southeastern parts of WA, with the chance of over a years’ worth of rainfall falling by the end of the week. Eyre, along WA’s southern coast, experienced...
Tropics helping add to southern Aus heatwave
The tropics flaring to life as the monsoon approaches once again is helping to add some heat to this weekend’s heatwave over SA and Vic. The diagram below shows how air that originates in the tropics can be transported...
Australian tropics booming to life, increasing tropical cyclone risk
An active pulse of the Madden-Julian Oscillation will increase the risk of tropical cyclones and thunderstorms in the Australian region over the coming week. The Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO) refers to a pulse of increased tropical cloud, rainfall and thunderstorm...
Pacific Ocean cold pool emerges, hinting at La Niña
A pool of unusually cold water has appeared at the surface of the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean, hinting that the foundations of a La Niña event may be lurking beneath the surface. The Pacific Ocean has been in an...
Unusually stormy summer for Australia, lightning data shows
Large areas of Australia saw an above average number of lightning days this summer, with Melbourne, Canberra and Brisbane all seeing 5 to 6 extra storm days during the season. Australia always sees lots of lightning during summer as...
Waterspouts and 250 mm of rain in southeast Queensland
Heavy rain and thunderstorms soaked parts of southeast Qld on Monday into Tuesday morning, with the unstable weather even causing a waterspout in Moreton Bay. Moisture-laden easterly surface winds feeding into a colder pool of air aloft caused ideal...
Wet season arriving in WA this week
Rain and thunderstorms will replace extreme heat over large areas of WA this week, with some places in the state’s north likely to see enough rain to officially mark the start of the wet season. In Australia, the northern...
