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Daily Forecast

Showers & storms are affecting the NT's north, southern QLD, northern NSW & SA with humid & unstable air, mainly inland NSW. Fronts are causing winds to strengthen & showers to develop in TAS & southwest WA. Showers are isolated on the northern NSW & QLD coasts in onshore winds

Now

Min

Max

Mostly CloudySydneyNSW

17.2°C

13°C
21°C

Clearing ShowerMelbourneVIC

18.6°C

15°C
23°C

Possible ShowerBrisbaneQLD

21.6°C

17°C
25°C

Late ShowerPerthWA

12.0°C

11°C
22°C

Late ShowerAdelaideSA

21.8°C

19°C
30°C

Increasing SunshineCanberraACT

10.5°C

4°C
19°C

Late ShowerHobartTAS

12.5°C

8°C
21°C

Clearing ShowerDarwinNT

27.6°C

25°C
34°C

Latest Warnings

There are no active warnings for this location.

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Records data is supplied by the Bureau of Meteorology and has not been independently quality controlled.

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Today, 5:28AM UTC

Massive blob of outback October heat

Extreme October heat is building up over the centre of the continent with October heat records for both maximum and minimum temperatures likely to be threatened at some locations. Central Australia started to warm up under northerly winds on Tuesday, with multiple weather stations in the southern NT and northern SA nudging 40°C. Wednesday and Thursday are forecast to be even hotter. Two of the hottest locations on Thursday are expected to be: Birdsville (Qld): Thursday’s forecast max 43°C (Oct record 45.1°C) Oodnadatta (SA): Thursday’s forecast max 43°C (Oct record 45.4°C) While those forecast maximums are a degree or two short of the record (and the same is true for the forecast minimums for both towns), these are still extreme temperatures for this time of year. Image: Thursday in particular will be a scorcher in the centre of the country.  It's also worth mentioning that the hottest air will park itself over areas where weather stations are few and far between, so it's likely that some exceptionally hot October temperatures could go unrecorded. This outback heat is being funnelled southwards from northern Australia, which has been significantly hotter than average for virtually all of spring 2024 to date. While Australia as a whole was almost two degrees warmer than average in the nation's fourth-warmest September on record, parts of northern Australia exceeded the average by a lot more than two degrees.  Image: Temperature anomalies (difference above or below normal) in September 2024. Source: BoM. See the small red patch in the northwest corner of the country? That's more or less where the town of Port Hedland is located, and the average September minimum in the town of 15,000 residents was almost six degrees above average, while Port Hedland's average Setpember maximum was two degrees above average. October has also been much warmer than usual in Port Hedland, as it has been at numerous other locations in northern Australia – with the region serving as a heat engine for areas further south. The full force of this heat event will not affect the southern capitals, although temps will definitely be on the warm side this Thursday. Adelaide is likely to reach 30°C, which has only happened once so far this spring (31.4°C on Tuesday), and Canberra is also in line for its warmest day of spring 2024 to date, with a top of 26°C.

Today, 1:15AM UTC

Negative IOD signal emerging in Indian Ocean

Sea surface temperatures in the Indian Ocean suggest that a negative phase of the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) may be emerging, which could influence Australian weather patterns in the coming months. What is the Indian Ocean Dipole? The IOD is an index that measures the difference in sea surface temperatures across the tropical Indian Ocean. A negative IOD occurs when cooler-than-average water sits on the western side of the Indian Ocean, near the Horn of Africa, and warmer-than-average water lies on the eastern side of the Indian Ocean, near Indonesia. A positive IOD is the opposite of this pattern (cooler water in the east, warmer in the west). Each phase of the IOD also influences atmospheric conditions above the Indian Ocean and surrounding countries. For Australia, a negative IOD typically increases the likelihood of above average rain over large areas of the country, while also promoting cooler days in the country’s south and east. IOD events typically occur between May and November and break down when the monsoon arrives in late winter or early summer. While October is late in the year for an IOD event to become established, there is still time for a negative IOD this spring. The maps below show how a negative IOD would typically impact Australian weather between October and December. Image: Typical changes to rainfall when a negative IOD occurs between October and December. Source: Bureau of Meteorology Image: Typical changes to maximum temperature when a negative IOD occurs between October and December. Source: Bureau of Meteorology Negative IOD pattern emerging The IOD is currently in a neutral phase, meaning neither a positive nor negative IOD is occurring. However, the map below shows sea surface temperature anomalies in the two IOD monitoring regions are beginning to reflect a negative IOD, with abnormally cool water in the west and warmer-than-average water in the east. Image: Sea surface temperature anomalies in the IOD monitoring regions on October 13, 2024. Source: NOAA In Australia, a negative IOD occurs when we see sustained IOD values below -0.4°C. The latest weekly IOD value was -0.58°C, which is the first reading below the -0.4°C threshold since 2022. Most forecast models suggest that the IOD index will remain below -0.4°C through the second half of spring before returning to neutral values in December. Image: IOD outlook for November 2024 from five international forecast models, all showing a weak negative IOD signal lingering through late spring. Source: Bureau of Meteorology. While it’s currently not clear whether a negative IOD will be declared in 2024, current conditions and forecast models are leaning towards Australia experiencing negative IOD-like weather in the second half of spring. The maps below show predicted rainfall anomalies from the ECMWF-SEAS5 model for November 2024. The first map shows a signal of above average rain over the central and eastern Indian Ocean and below average in the western Indian Ocean. The second map highlights an increased likelihood for rain in northern and eastern Australia during November. Image: Global rainfall anomaly forecast for November 2024. Image: Australian rainfall anomaly forecast for November 2024.

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14 Oct 2024, 4:48AM UTC

Severe storms slam Sydney

A cluster of severe thunderstorms has converged on the Sydney region on Monday afternoon, delivering heavy rain, hail, and hazardous driving conditions. Fortunately, no reports of damaging hail have yet emerged, with the largest hailstones being not much bigger than pea-sized. As the storms rolled in just after 3pm, the BoM issued a Severe Thunderstorm Warning for heavy rainfall for the Sydney area as well as parts of the Hunter, Illawarra, Central Tablelands, Southern Tablelands and South West Slopes forecast districts. Storms are firing up across parts of NSW. Just a reminder that if you require storm assistance call the NSW SES on 132 500 and Triple Zero for life threatening emergency. ???? storm moves across Picton in the Southern Highlands a short time ago. pic.twitter.com/V15ESYFVrU — NSW RFS (@NSWRFS) October 14, 2024 The wild weather was caused by a trough moving over NSW which combined with an unstable airmass. The trough will deepen overnight enhancing showers and thunderstorms across the central ranges and coast of NSW, before impacting the northern ranges and coast on Tuesday. The storms were relatively fast-moving, however moderate rainfall totals were recorded in a short time-frame, including: 18.4mm at Sydney Observatory Hill in just over half an hour up till 3:30pm. 23.6mm at Canterbury (about 12km southwest of the Sydney CBD), again in little more than half an hour. 10mm in few very brief stormy minutes at Mt Ginini in the Brindabella Range overlooking Canberra. Image: Two-hour radar loop of storms to 3:10pm, Monday October 14, 2024. The storms were relatively fast-moving, with pink areas representing heat generated by lightning, The radar loop above also shows that further storms lie to the west and southwest of the Sydney region, with storms also starting to build up around Canberra. READ MORE: Destructive storms and record-challenging heat in Australia this week  Image: Skies turned greenish-grey like the traffic lights over southern Sydney as the storms arrived, with loud rumbles of thunder. This is a dangerous weather situation which is ongoing, with further storms possible in many of the areas mentioned into Monday evening, so please check the Weatherzone warnings page for the latest advice. You can also check the latest advice from the NSW SES here.

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28 Aug 2024, 3:51AM UTC

Gales and crosswinds cause disruptions at Sydney Airport

Gale force west to northwesterly winds are creating havoc at Sydney airport on Wednesday afternoon, with all six landing and takeoff options impacted by very strong cross winds.   Sydney airport saw gale force west to northwesterly mean wind speeds of 65km/h at 12:30pm, while the site has been gusting up to 82km/h.   These winds are too strong for all three runways (six landing and takeoff options) to be used safely, airport traffic typically peaks during light winds. The image below shows that two of Sydney Airport’s parallel runways are orientated from north to south, and one single runway runs from west to east.    Image: Sydney Airport runway orientation showing two parallel runways running north/south and one west/east, Source: Sydney Airport   The west-east runway is the longest and can accept the largest aircraft, the A380. The gale force west to northwesterly winds on Wednesday are causing around 25 knots of crosswind on each of the six runway options.    Image: Weatherzone’s cross wind calculator in our Aviation Dashboard showing cross wind or X wind of 24 to 25 knots.  The term ‘crosswinds’ refers to winds that blow perpendicular to the runway, which can generate a significant lateral force on the aircraft, making it difficult for pilots to maintain a stable trajectory. The strong crosswinds can cause the plane to drift off course, posing a serious risk to both the aircraft and its passengers.   Sydney Airport typically changes runways when there’s sustained crosswind gusts above 20 knots (37km/h).    However, on Wednesday crosswinds are affecting all runways, meaning that aircraft are often opting to use the two north-south runways to increase traffic. This has meant that some flights have tried twice to land in these difficult conditions.   It is very rare for crosswinds to impact all runways and therefore this event is causing significant disruptions at the airport on Wednesday.   This event is not isolated to the Sydney area, numerous severe weather warnings for gales and damaging and/or destructive winds are in place across four states and the ACT, as a strong cold front lashes Tasmania and southeastern parts of the continent.    So when will these winds die down?  Conditions will ease somewhat by Wednesday evening, but not before the Sydney airport peak hour between 5 and 7pm. Winds will intensify again on Friday and into the weekend as further fronts whip through southern parts of the country. 

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23 Aug 2024, 5:01AM UTC

A great week for Tassie Hydro

Hundreds of millimetres of rainfall are forecast for western Tasmania in the next week, which will help replenish hydroelectric lakes in the region after some of the lowest rainfall on record.  Hydropower is Tasmania’s main source of electricity, with frequent rain filling Tassie Hydro’s 54 major dams and feeding into 30 hydropower stations. In fact, during winter, the state usually exports electricity to Victoria, via the underwater Basslink. In summer, when it is usually drier, the state relies on the National Electricity Market (NEM) for a top up of power.   Image: Hydroelectricity dam at Strathgordon in Tasmania  According to Hydro Tasmania, they produce around 9000 gigawatts of clean renewable electricity from hydropower, enough to power 900,000 homes or businesses.  The map below shows the catchments and power stations scattered across Tasmania; the largest lakes used for hydro are the Great Lake and Gordon-Pedder. The rain that falls in these catchments or dams is collected and used to generate electricity.   Image: Hydro catchment areas. Source: Hydro Tasmania  Usually, the west coast of Tasmania is the wettest due to prevailing westerly winds from cold fronts passing over the state, which tend to be blocked by vast mountains through central areas. During the past three months, unfortunately, this has not been the case for the west coast. Overall, the area has seen below average rain, reaching record lows in the far northwest, while the east coast saw average to above average rain.   Image: Tasmania rain deciles between May 1 and July 31, 2024. Source: Bureau of Meteorology  During July 2024, rain in western and central Tasmania was in the lowest 10% of Julys since 1900.  The below average rain has affected water storage across western Tasmania, with some areas seeing record low or very much below average streamflow. The Great Lake was only 25.1% full by the end of July, which is a 10.4% decrease from the same time last year.    Image: Streamflow decile categories for July 2024. Source: BOM  The good news is that rain is on its way, with a complex low pressure system set to direct several cold fronts across the state in the coming week.  Western Tasmania is forecast to see around 100 to 200mm of rain in the next 7 days, which could help fill up the western lakes, including the Gordon-Pedder. Eastern Tasmania, however, will see slightly less rain, with widespread falls of 30 to 50mm and isolated falls of 60 to 80mm.   Image: Accumulated rain forecast for the next 7 days leading up to 10pm AEST on Thursday, August 29.   Some of these totals will fall as snow as a cold airmass moves over the state from mid to late next week.   Looking ahead, the rain should continue next Friday, August 30, and into the weekend as the low continues to linger over the region. 

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