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A deep, slow-moving low off WA's south coast is bringing rain and strong winds to southern WA. A cold front is causing heavy rain over SA, and showers and storms over WA's northeast and the NT's south. Moist northerly winds bring a few showers to Tas, Vic and southern NSW.
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Today, 1:34AM UTC
Flooding rain targeting South Australia
A northwest cloudband will cause heavy rain and thunderstorms over parts of South Australia on Wednesday, with flash flooding possible in some parts of the state. Moisture-laden northwesterly winds interacting with a low pressure system passing over the Bight will cause a vast band of cloud, rain and storms to pass over SA on Wednesday and Thursday morning. The satellite image below shows the cloudband covering most of SA on Wednesday morning. Image: Enhanced infrared satellite image, showing cloud over SA and a low pressure system near the south coast of Western Australia at 10 am ACST on Wednesday, June 17, 2026. Source: Weatherzone. Some areas in SA received close to 50 mm of rain during the 24 hours ending at 9am on Wednesday. This included 47 mm at Tarcoola, which was its heaviest June daily rainfall on record, with data available back to 1907. The heaviest rain on Wednesday is expected to fall over SA’s North West Pastoral, West Coast and Eyre Peninsula districts. Six-hourly rainfall rates of 30 to 40 mm are possible in these areas, most likely in the morning and afternoon. After soaking the state’s west, the band of rain will spread across SA’s central and eastern districts between Wednesday afternoon and Thursday morning. This will include Adelaide, which could see around 10 to 20 mm of rain from this system. Image: Forecast accumulated rain during the 48 hours ending at 9:30 pm ACST on Thursday, June 18, 2026. Source: Weatherzone. The rainband will clear from SA on Thursday morning, although another round of showers and blustery winds will develop on Thursday and Friday as the low passes to the south of the state. Damaging winds are possible in some areas on Thursday, most likely along the West Coast.
16 Jun 2026, 10:21AM UTC
El Niño is here and it could challenge records in 2026
The Bureau of Meteorology has declared that El Niño has arrived and it is likely to last until at least the end of the year. Forecast models also suggest this could be one of the strongest El Niño events on record. What is El Niño? El Niño is one of three phases of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) – a global ocean and atmosphere phenomenon originating in the tropical Pacific. The other phases of ENSO are La Niña and neutral (neither El Niño nor La Niña). El Niño occurs when sea surface temperatures in the tropical Pacific become warmer than average and trade winds blowing across the tropical Pacific weaken or reverse. These changes cause cloud and rainfall to become suppressed in the western Pacific and enhanced over the central and eastern Pacific. El Niño also causes changes to rainfall and temperatures patterns in other parts of the world. El Niño usually takes months to become established and often lasts for several consecutive seasons, sometimes persisting over a couple of years. El Niño events typically start in autumn or winter, peak in spring or summer and decay early in the new year. El Niño declared On Tuesday, June 16, the Bureau of Meteorology declared that El Niño was underway in the tropical Pacific. This declaration followed several months of increasing temperature anomalies in the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean and recent atmospheric changes that are consistent with an El Niño pattern. According to the Bureau, “Sea surface temperatures (SSTs) in the central tropical Pacific are above El Niño thresholds, and atmospheric indicators are also aligning with an El Niño state. This suggests the ocean and atmosphere are acting to reinforce the ENSO state.” Image: Global sea surface temperature anomalies on June 14, 2026, showing a tongue of abnormally warm water in the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean. This is a clear sign of El Niño. Source: NOAA. This declaration from the Bureau follows a similar announcement from the United States National Weather Service (NWS) on Thursday, June 11. Earlier in the month, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) had also issued a statement warning the world to prepare for El Niño, noting that it could be a strong event that “will exacerbate drought and heavy rainfall and increase the risk of heatwaves both on land and in the ocean.” This El Niño could be one for the record books Current forecasts indicate that this El Niño will continue to strengthen during the Southern Hemisphere’s winter and spring and will likely last beyond the end of the year. This El Niño is expected to become a strong or very strong event, with the Bureau pointing out that “around half of the models indicate this event could peak at levels among the highest observed since 1950.” One of the key metrics used to measure El Niño is the relative Niño3.4 index – a measure of sea surface temperature anomalies on the central tropical Pacific Ocean. In Australia, El Niño occurs when the relative Niño3.4 index is above +0.8°C for a prolonged period. According to data on the Bureau of Meteorology’s website, the highest monthly Niño 3.4 value in records dating back to 1900 was +2.65°C in November 1902. The Bureau’s ACCESS-S model currently forecasts the relative Niño3.4 index to reach +3.3°C in November this year, which would obliterate the old record by more than 0.6°C. What does this El Niño mean for Australia? No two El Niño events are the same and stronger El Niño events do not necessarily relate to stronger impacts in Australia. However, El Niño typically makes the following weather more likely in Australia: Reduced rainfall during winter and spring, particularly over the eastern half of Australia. Above average daytime temperatures in southern and southeastern Australia from winter to summer. Increased winter and early-spring frost risk in southeastern Australia due to clearer skies. Less snow, including a lower peak snow depth and shorter snow season. Delayed monsoon onset in northern Australia. Increased risk of fires. Current long-range forecasts for Australia point towards below average rain over large areas of southern and eastern Australia between July and September this year. Daytime temperatures are also expected to be higher than average for much of the country during this three-month period. Image: Chance of exceeding median rainfall during the three-month period from July to September 2026. Source: Bureau of Meteorology. Image: Chance of exceeding median maximum temperature during the three-month period from July to September 2026. Source: Bureau of Meteorology. It’s also important to note that El Niño will not be the only influence on Australia’s weather during the coming months and seasons. Other climate drivers, including the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) and Southern Annular Mode (SAM) may also enhance or counteract the influence of El Niño as we move through the second half of 2026.
16 Jun 2026, 4:30AM UTC
Australia's shortest day of the year this weekend
The Southern Hemisphere’s winter solstice will occur this Sunday, marking the shortest day of the year in Australia based on daylight hours. The winter solstice marks the moment either of Earth’s poles reaches its furthest tilt away from the Sun. When this happens, the hemisphere oriented away from the Sun experiences its shortest day of the year based on the amount of time between sunrise and sunset. The 2026 winter solstice for the Southern Hemisphere will occur at 8:25 am UTC (6:25 pm AEST) on Sunday, June 21. Australia's capital city day lengths will range from about nine hours in Hobart to just over 11 hours and 20 minutes in Darwin. This almost 2.5-hour difference is due to the difference in latitude between southern and northern Australia. Image: Sunrise, sunset and day length times on the date of the 2026 winter solstice. Source: Weatherzone. While the winter solstice doesn’t have any direct influence on the weather, it does mark the start of the astronomical winter in the Southern Hemisphere. The long nights surrounding the solstice also offer a good opportunity to view things in the night sky, including this month’s full moon on the night of June 30. Following the 2026 winter solstice on Sunday, days will start to get longer, and nights will get shorter in Australia. This trend will continue for the following six months until the date of the summer solstice in late-December.