Where is the lightning capital of Australia?
Australia is a stormy country, with lightning striking part of every state and territory each year. But some parts of the country are far stormier than others. So, where is the most lightning-prone part of Australia? Before looking...
Spring bushfire outlook
A confluence of wet-phase climate drivers will reduce the risk of bushfires across large areas of Australia this spring, although grassfires could still be prolific in some parts of the country. The Australasian Fire and Emergency Service Authorities...
Black ice and white snow in the Blue Mountains impacts transport
Traffic came to a standstill in the snow-covered Blue Mountains on Wednesday morning as black ice closed sections of the Great Western Highway and Bells Line of Road. A large pool of very cold air with polar origins...
Canberra, Hobart 16ºC colder than Sydney this morning
A cold air mass spreading over southeastern Australia is causing huge temperature contrasts between some of Australia largest capital cities today. A pool of air that originated near Antarctica has been spreading over Australia’s southern and southeastern states during...
New data points towards La Niña re-emerging
New observations from the tropical Pacific Ocean suggest that a La Niña pattern is gaining strength as we enter the final weeks of winter. The Niño-3.4 index measures the sea surface temperature anomaly inside a defined area of the...
Low level snow imminent in southeastern Australia
A strong cold front crossing southeastern Australia will bring damaging winds, heavy rain and the lowest snow so far this year during the next two days. The satellite image below shows a cold front passing over SA, VIC and TAS...
A wet week for Tassie hydro
Parts of Tasmania have seen a months worth of rainfall in the last week, providing a decent injection of water into the Tassie hydro lakes. August is Tasmania’s second wettest month with a state-wide monthly average of 148.2...
Where will the wind take you in spring?
Spring is a notoriously windy season but whether southern Australia is calmer or windier than usual comes down to the Southern Annular Mode. So, what is the Southern Annular Mode? The SAM is simply an index that’s used...
