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An unstable air mass over western WA is triggering showers and storms. A tropical low and unstable onshore winds are causing heavy rain to develop in north Qld, heaviest over the north tropical coast. Moist westerlies bring a few showers to southern Vic and Tas.
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Today, 3:53AM UTC
Heavy rain in diagonally opposite corners of Australia
On a dry autumn day across the vast majority of the continent, relatively small but intense areas of rain are dampening two corners of the country more than 3,000 kilometres apart. Australia’s weather this Wednesday is dominated by a large high pressure system centred over the Cameron Corner area – where New South Wales, South Australia and Queensland meet. That system is causing stable conditions in most areas. But rain fell in Perth and nearby parts of Western Australia overnight and into Wednesday morning, while rain continues on Wednesday afternoon in Far North Queensland due to the remnants of ex-Tropical Cyclone Maila. Let’s break down the current weather conditions in southwest WA and Far North Queensland: Handy rainfall in Perth An upper level trough generated healthy rainfall totals for April in Perth early this morning, with 11.6mm recorded in the city and similar or even slightly higher totals in some suburbs. This was: Perth’s first rainfall to date in April 2026 after two dry weeks. Just the second day this year with a double-digit rainfall total, after the exceptionally heavy fall (for early autumn) of 62.8mm on March 28, which was associated with the remnants of ex-Tropical Cyclone Narelle. Image: Four-hour radar loop showing showers and storms approaching Perth early in the hours of Wednesday, April 15, 2026. Source: Weatherzone. The rain in Perth this Wednesday fell in a relatively narrow band moving in a southeasterly direction. Some inland areas in the wheat belt also got a soaking, including 22.4mm at Quairading, a small town about 170km east of the state capital. Only very light falls were recorded south of Perth in the South West and South Coastal forecast districts. Looking ahead, scattered showers and storms are again possible for parts of central and southern WA on Thursday as another upper trough moves in. Showers are then likely on Friday into Saturday across the southwest as a cold front clips the corner of the continent, however rainfall totals should be relatively light. Wet from Cape York to Mackay In the diagonally opposite corner of the country, rainfall totals exceeding 40mm were recorded at weather stations along the coast from Lockhart River on the east coast of Cape York all the way to Mackay, nearly 1500km south. The heaviest rainfall totals in the 24 hours to 9am were along the stretch of coastline from Cairns to Tully (about 140m south of Cairns) and the adjacent ranges. The heaviest fall in the region was 95mm at Topaz, a weather station on the North Johnstone River near Innisfail. Image: Eight-hour radar loop for Queensland up to 1pm (AEST) on Wednesday, April 15, 2026. Source: Weatherzone. As the radar loop above shows, rainfall is still surging across the coastline, with the likelihood of significant falls reaching central parts of the state in coming days Fun fact: which Australian cities are furthest apart in a straight line? Technically, Darwin and Hobart are the two Australian cities which are furthest apart, with around 3700 kilometres between them as the crow flies. But if you’re measuring the distance between mainland cities (whether they’re capitals or regional cities), then it's hard to beat the 3600 kilometres that separate the Gold Coast and Perth. Perth and Cairns come close at around 3400km. It’s not often that the two main focal points on any given day of Australian weather are two mainland cities which are so far apart.
14 Apr 2026, 2:45AM UTC
Remnants of Cyclone Maila to drench Queensland
Large parts of Queensland are in for a good soaking as the remnants of ex-Tropical Cyclone Maila cross the coastline. Tropical Cyclone Maila formed on April 4 near the Solomon Islands and briefly became a severe category 5 cyclone. Tragically, at least 11 people were killed on the island of Bougainville, which is geographically located along the Solomons chain but politically part of Papua New Guinea. Maila rapidly downgraded to a tropical low over the weekend as it tracked in a southwesterly direction from the Solomon Sea to the Coral Sea. The ex-cyclone is now set to cross the Cape York coastline on Tuesday evening. How much rain can Queensland expect? The loop below shows cloud and moisture pushing towards the Queensland coastline on Tuesday morning. Image: Combined radar and satellite loop over Queensland for the four hours to 11am (AEST) on Tuesday, April 14, 2026. While there’s uncertainty over rainfall totals, it appears likely that the stretch of coastline north of Mackay to Cape York is in for a few days of heavy rain that could exceed 100mm in some areas. This is not unusual for North Queensland in April, although it’s worth noting that prolonged coastal downpours do become less likely by mid-autumn. For example, Townsville receives 312.9mm of rainfall on average in February, but that drops to just 68.1mm in April. But the city could conceivably receive its monthly average within a couple of days this week ahead of the North Queensland Cowboys hosting the Manly Sea Eagles in the big Thursday night NRL match, on what could be a soggy field at Townsville’s Queensland Country Bank Stadium. How far inland will the moisture spread? Models suggest that this will be another event that delivers moisture to inland Queensland, in a year when that part of the country has seen plenty of rain. Image: Accumulated rainfall predicted for Queensland by 10pm on Friday, April 17, 2026, according to the ECMWF model. Source: Weatherzone. As the map above shows, outback towns like Longreach, Mount Isa and Winton (which is close to the geographical heart of Qld) are all likely to see a decent drop this week. One part of the state which will be disappointed to miss significant rainfall this week is southeast Queensland. As the map below shows, this area has experienced significant rainfall deficiencies to date in 2026. Image: Australian rainfall deciles from January to March, 2026. Source: BoM. Brisbane is likely to remain dry and mostly sunny all the way through to the end of the weekend.
13 Apr 2026, 2:42AM UTC
Cold nights, warm days in classic week of autumn weather
A classic autumn pattern of cold nights and warm days is in store for much of the country this week, after a cold front swept across southeastern Australia over the weekend. Repeated bursts of cold, moist air delivered heavy snow to elevated parts of Tasmania, with lighter falls on the highest peaks of the mainland. The dry airmass in the wake of the weekend system is producing chilly overnight temperatures that would have had many Australians busting out the doona for the first time in months. The coldest weekend minimums in each of the states and territories were: VIC -3.9°C Mt Hotham NSW -3.5°C Thredbo TAS -3°C kunanyi/Mt Wellington ACT -1.3°C Mt Ginini WA 1°C Eyre QLD 3.6°C Applethorpe SA 3.9°C Karoonda NT 8.1°C Alice Springs Airport Cold weekend maximums Australia also saw its first freezing maximums of the year on Saturday, with the mercury at Mt Hotham in Victoria peaking at just -0.6°C, kunanyi/Mt Wellington in Tasmania climbing to just -0.1°C, while Thredbo Top Station in NSW hit a high of exactly 0.0°C. Image: Remnants of the weekend snowfall melting quickly on Monday morning at Thredbo Top Station. Source: Thredbo.com.au. In Hobart, Saturday’s maximum of 11.5°C was by far the coldest day of the year to date. Indeed, it was colder than the average maximum of 11.9°C in July, the coldest month of the year. Melbourne failed to reach 17°C on both days over the weekend, while even Sydney felt relatively cool on Sunday despite its mild maximum of 21.4°C, with the wind chill keeping the apparent or "feels like" temperature up to seven degrees below the official still-air reading for much of the day. Cold nights, warm days for the week ahead As mentioned, a large part of the country can now expect cool to cold nights with warm days for at least the first half of the working week, as a strong high pressure system centred near Adelaide becomes the dominant feature of the national weather pattern. The national capital is a good example of conditions that can be expected across a broad area, with minimums falling towards freezing while afternoons will be close enough to T-shirt weather. Image: Daily Forecast for Canberra on the Weatherzone app. Another good example is Applethorpe, in southern Queensland’s elevated Granite Belt region, where mild afternoons in the mid-20s will be around 20 degrees warmer than the cool single-digit overnight minimums. By the middle of the week, ex-Tropical Cyclone Maila will begin to impact Queensland’s weather with coastal rain that could extend well inland. Two separate cold fronts will cool things down in southwest WA and again in Tasmania as the weekend approaches.