There are no active warnings for this location.
Weather Maps
Daily Forecast
Very warm with intense showers and storms ahead of cold front and linked area of low pressure over eastern NSW and southeast Qld. Much cooler with very gusty showers behind the front, some showers extending to eastern Vic and Tas. Storms over the tropics in a developing monsoon
Latest Warnings
AUS
Latest News
Climate Updates
Latest News
Today, 12:53AM UTC
Another big cold burst for U.S. following strong cold front this weekend
Temperatures are again set plummet across parts of the U.S. from this weekend after a strong cold front sweeps across the country. January 2025 has seen an overall cold pattern in place for most areas of the U.S. east of the Rockies. That has led to some unusually high snowfall totals for the southern half of the country from a couple of systems earlier this month. One 6 to 12 inch band of snow fell across northeast Kansas and northern Missouri from January 4 to 6 and another 6 to 12 inch band fell across eastern Oklahoma, far northeast Texas, and central and northern Arkansas January 9 and 10. Outside of the intense snow bands, snowfall near or exceeding 6 inches also fell in parts of the Ohio Valley and Mid-South from both storms, respectively. Some areas of the south have seen more snowfall than areas up north. Much of southern Minnesota, Iowa, and Wisconsin are in a ‘snow hole’ where much of the ground is either uncovered or with very little snow on the ground. The recent snow also led to very cold temperatures in some areas, with temperatures down to -10°F in northeast Kansas. Image: Snow cover from previous storm systems shown by satellite as of 11am CST, Monday, January 13. Source: College of DuPage Mother Nature is now building up to bring yet another big burst of cold air to the US, but this time, the cold weather will be even more widespread. The upper-level pattern over the US will play a key role in this next round of arctic cold, allowing a massive pool of cold, polar air to spread across much of the continent from the North Pole to the Gulf of Mexico by early next week. Usually, the Rockies provide a good barrier to these arctic intrusions, guiding them east of the mountains. For the coldest air, this will be true, but even the Rockies won’t be able to contain this immense cold pool, and it should seep westward into the Intermountain region as well. Image: Forecast from the European Ensemble model shows cold air (in blue and purple) pushing from western Canada through the U.S. this weekend, lingering much of next week. Source: tropicaltidbits.com Overall temperatures look to be coldest on Monday, January 20, but will be colder in the Northern Plains a day earlier and the East a day or two later. Widespread anomalies of 20-30 degrees below normal are expected for a couple of days and some peak areas that have fresh snow cover could see anomalies drop 40 degrees below normal. The last burst of arctic air failed to produce anomalies this drastic and widespread, but the one coming up has better potential to do this. The front that brings in the cold air later this week may also develop a low-pressure center that could cover the Southern Plains through the Northeast January 18 to 20. Models are still working this aspect of the system out, but it could lead to a zone of fresh snow for the Midwest or Mid-South into the Northeast that could allow temperatures to get even lower than the current forecasts. Any lingering snow from earlier in the month will also help to keep temperatures down as this next system comes through. A brief two- to three-day burst of above-normal temperatures this week should help to melt off some of the existing snow, especially for areas that were hit with the snow late last week across the south. However, those from Kansas eastward may not have warm enough temperatures for long enough to get rid of all the snow. The harsh cold starting later this week will only last a few days, most likely about to three days for the most drastic temperature anomalies. However, colder-than-normal temperatures are likely to persist through the end of the week and could be reinforced by more cold air to close out the month of January. What is unusual is that these bursts of cold are coming without an aid from the polar vortex. Over the last several years, many of these cold bursts we have seen have been in large part due to a disturbance in the polar vortex, or the jet stream that circles the North Pole. When the polar vortex gets disrupted, it often brings very cold air south, sometimes into North America, for extended periods of time. The month of January is going to be a cold one for many in the U.S., but this time it will not be due to the polar vortex. This cold air is shallower and not as long-lasting as polar vortex events can be. This is brining getting short, but intense bursts of cold lasting only a couple of days before temperatures return closer to normal for a few days before getting hit again. By contrast, polar vortex events usually last more than a week at a time without interruption.
15 Jan 2025, 10:48PM UTC
Almost 2 million lightning strikes in wild eastern Australian storms
An intense line of storms lashed eastern New South Wales and Victoria on Wednesday afternoon and evening, cutting power to thousands, causing flash flooding, and tragically killing one man in the NSW Central West town of Cowra when a tree fell on his vehicle. A well-defined squall line stretching from the north of NSW all the way down to the SE tip of mainland Australia started to form early in the afternoon. The line of storms marched across the southeast as evening approached, before roaring into Sydney as darkness settled upon the city. Image: Four-hour radar loop showing the line of storms crossing southeastern Australia on the evening of January 15, 2025. However Sydney skies were soon ablaze with lightning, with 73,700 strikes detected within 100km of the CBD and 8,777 strikes reaching the ground within 40km of Bankstown – hence the power outages. Image: Location of lightning strikes within a 100km radius of the Sydney CBD in the 12 hours between midday and midnight on Wednesday, January 15, 2025. In the 24 hours to 8am Thursday, a total of 1.819 million lightning strikes were detected by Weatherzone's Total Lightning Network in a broad arc from Queensland to Tasmania. Well that’s one way to power up the lights at @SydShowground @sydolympicpark ! Lightning struck a light tower and the lights came on! #SydneyStorm #Sydney #Storm pic.twitter.com/TF1Bnj7hC0 — E (@e13531) January 15, 2025 As you'd expect, strong wind gusts and intense rainfall were also features of this system. Here are some of the most notable observations from a remarkable day of storm activity: Wind A gust of 120 km/h at Trangie, a small town about 500km northwest of Sydney A 120 km/h gust at Williamtown, just north of Newcastle, the strongest gust at that site in at least 23 years A 117 km/h gust at Kurnell in Sydney's south at 8:34pm. (It’s also worth noting that a gust of 95 km/h was recorded a little further south at Watamolla in the Royal National Park just after 6am on Thursday, in a different band of storms that developed under cooler southerly winds.) A 113 km/h gust at Cabramurra on the western flank of the Snowy Mountains, while a gust of 102 km/h was recorded at Bombala, in the far southeast corner of the Snowy Mountains forecast district. Interestingly, the region’s highest weather stations like Thredbo Top Station – which almost always cop the strongest winds in winter – did not record the region’s strongest gusts from this system. A 113 km/h gust at Murrurundi Gap, in the Hunter district at 8:06pm A 111 km/h gust at Merriwa, also in the Hunter district, at 7:30pm A gust of 107 km/h at Cowra Airport A gust of 106 km/h at Wagga Wagga, which was that city's strongest wind reading in 16 years A 100 km/h gust at Sydney Airport Image: Radar on the Weatherzone app for Gosford, NSW, showing the second band of storms on the morning of Thursday, January 16. The loop above shows our Pro Lightning Strike feature, with crosses indicating individual strikes. Rain and hail As this was a relatively quick-moving system, falls in most areas were significant without being record-setting. Only two locations recorded 24-hour rainfall totals exceeding 100mm – both of them on the NSW South Coast just south of Moruya, with a highest total of 127mm at Eurobodalla. Numerous locations received a midsummer top-up of 50mm or more. However numerous heavy rainfall totals were recorded within a short time frame, including: 32mm at Perisher Valley within an hour (this was during a second band of storms around 10pm and it followed the mid-afternoon burst of 27mm inside 30 minutes) 31mm within 30 minutes at Argalong, just east of the Snowy Mountains 31mm within 30 minutes at Araluen, the peach-growing town just inland from the NSW South Coast 30mm within 30 minutes at Mandurama in the NSW Central West Meanwhile, hailstones of up to 4cm in diameter were observed near the Central West town of Wellington around 6pm, however there were no reports of hail damage there or elsewhere. Lightning over eastern NSW/ACT during the 24 hours to 9am on Thursday. pic.twitter.com/J5njPkFte6 — Andrew Miskelly (@andrewmiskelly) January 15, 2025 The weather has now taken a turn this Thursday morning across most of the areas mentioned, with winds shifting to cooler southerlies across Victoria and much of NSW. However the southerly change has not yet reached the NE corner of NSW, with temps already edging towards the 30s just inland of Byron Bay just before 10am at the same time as it was a chilly four degrees at Thredbo in the state's south. That means that severe thunderstorms are still possible in northeastern NSW and southeast Queensland on Thursday. For the rest of storm-lashed NSW, a cooler day is in store with damp conditions prevailing on some parts of the coast and some storms still possible even in areas where the cool change has arrived.
15 Jan 2025, 1:19AM UTC
Severe thunderstorm outbreak hitting eastern Australia
Violent thunderstorms will pummel parts of NSW, Queensland, Victoria and the ACT over the next couple of days, with potential for supercells and a dangerous squall line late on Wednesday. An upper-level pool of cold air crossing southeastern Australia on Wednesday and Thursday will interact with a cold front, low pressure trough and moisture-laden air to create an ideal environment for dangerous thunderstorms. This setup is likely to cause rain and thunderstorms from Qld down to Vic on Wednesday, with a few storms also possible in Tas and SA. Storm activity will persist overnight Wednesday into Thursday in some areas, with further storms expected to develop over parts of NSW and Qld during Thursday and possibly Friday. Wednesday has the potential to be one of the most dangerous thunderstorm days we have seen so far this summer due to the ample instability and potential for supercells and a squall line. Damaging winds, large hail and heavy rain are all likely, with destructive winds and giant hail also a chance. Image: Modelled lifted index values over southeastern Australia at 5pm AEDT on Wednesday, January 15. The lifted index is a storm risk parameter, with negative values (shaded blue) showing regions that have increased thunderstorm potential. Supercell thunderstorms refer to rotating individual storm cells that have the potential to produce destructive winds, very heavy rain, giant hail and tornadoes. Supercells often move in a different direction to other surrounding storms cells and can last longer than less intense storms. A squall line refers to an elongated line of thunderstorms cells that can cover a broad area, sometimes spanning hundreds of kilometres. Squall lines are often associated with heavy rain and damaging straight-line winds. While there is a good chance of severe thunderstorms over a broad area of eastern and southeastern Australia on Wednesday, the greatest risk of supercells and squall lines will be over southern NSW and the ACT, most likely in the late afternoon and evening. Dangerous storms will continue over parts of eastern Australia on Thursday, although the focus of the storms will contract to northeast NSW and southeast Qld. The best place to look for more detail on individual storms and their impacts on Wednesday and Thursday will be the severe thunderstorm warnings issued by the Bureau of Meteorology.