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Gusty showers over the east coasts of QLD and northern NSW in onshore winds around high pressure. A few storms and light showers over WA's west. The odd light shower over western Tas in a westerly airstream. A high keeps elsewhere dry and mostly settled.
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Today, 2:14AM UTC
A quick look at our water storages
Given the largely clear skies across the country today, it’s a good opportunity to take a look at the water storages of Australia’s major cities. While rainfall is obviously a major contributor to the level of major dams, it is not the only factor. Water usage, infrastructure developments and upgrades, and controlled releases also need to be factored in when looking at this data. Let's start with a national overview. The map below shows the percentage of average rainfall for the year to date. Greens and above indicate above average rainfall while browns and reds indicate below average rainfall. Year to date rainfall percentages (source: BoM) The huge areas of above average rainfall across NT and eastern WA are notable; however, these areas don’t provide our major sources of water. For that we need to look closer to the capitals. The eastern capitals Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne have all had slightly above average rainfall so far this year while Adelaide and Perth have had below average rainfall. Perth has only had 9.6mm of rainfall in 2024 following on from its driest six-month period on record (Oct – Mar). Given that extreme stretch of dry weather, it’s no surprise that Perth’s total dam capacity is at 40.4%, down from 50% at the same time last year. Perth Metro supply monthly dam volume comparison (source: WAter corporation) According to WAter Corporation data, this is the lowest dams have been since 2018 but still well above 2017. Given the slow decline of average rainfall over southwest WA, Perth has become more reliant on groundwater and desalinization which you can read about here. Similarly for Adelaide, SA Water is reporting that the total reservoir level is at 47%, down from 59% at the same time last year. It’s a different story in the eastern states, however. According to latest information from Melbourne Water, Melbourne’s catchments are at a very healthy 89.3% full, only slightly below 90.3% this time last year. After a string of La Niña summers and a wet El Niño, Melbourne’s catchments remain at their highest levels since the mid-90s. In Sydney, after the 200mm soaking earlier in the month and on the back of a few wet summers, it’s no surprise that Water NSW is reporting that dam levels are nearly full at 97%. Finally for Brisbane, after falling to 65.7% at the end of 2023 the soaking rains of the summer have sent catchments soaring to 84.0% full, according to SEQ Water data. The peak in early 2022 coincided with the Brisbane floods where the water level jumped from 70% to nearly full in a matter of days. Brisbane historical dam storage (source: SEQ Water) If you would like to know more about the water storage in your city, try some of these links. WAter Corporation (WA), SA Water, Melbourne Water, Water NSW and SEQ Water (QLD). Story image: Wivenhoe Dam (source: SEQ Water)
27 Apr 2024, 6:15AM UTC
Signs indicating Australia's cool season arrival
Mere hours after our Total Lightning Network went quiet over the Australian continent, the Himawari satellite captured a clear, textbook snapshot of the arrival of Australia's cool season. A few distinguishing features should catch your eye: A band of cloud streaming over northern WA and towards the nation's interior A distinct clearing of cloud from most of the NT's Top End, and A band of cloud crossing to the south of WA Turns out, all three of these features point to one thing: winter is knocking at the door. Image: Himawari satellite imagery and mean sea level pressure (ECMWF) over Australia on the morning of Saturday, April 27th, 2024. 1. Subtropical jet migration If you follow our weather stories, this might seem vaguely familiar; the last time we mentioned a similar weather pattern was last July, during the heart of winter. One of two main jet streams affecting the Australian region, the more northward subtropical jet stream, is shifting north and bringing across warmer, humid air from the Indian Ocean. As this air travels with the stream over the Australian mainland, it meets with cooler air and rises over it, producing wispy, high level cirrus cloud. Image: 200hPa jetstream winds (ECMWF) overlaid on Himawari satellite imagery from Saturday morning. 2. The northern dry season Whilst not officially starting until May, northern Australia is beginning to show signs of the dry season, as the humid winds start to turn more southeasterly, decreasing moisture. The dry season marks a six month period of clearer skies and drier (often gusty) interior winds, particularly over the Northern Territory. Maximum temperatures still reach the low 30s during the Top End's dry season, which is also its fire season. Image: Oracle cloud cover, expressed in oktas, overlaid on Himawari satellite imagery from Saturday morning, showing largely clear skies over the Northern Territory. 0 oktas indicate clear skies, while 8 oktas indicate completely cloudy skies. High jet stream cloud can be seen over the bottom left of the image. 3. Cold fronts Cold fronts can cross the Australian Bight at any time of year but are generally suppressed during the warmer months as the 'subtropical ridge', or broad area of high pressure, tends to be over the south of the continent at this time, steering fronts well into the Southern Ocean. During cooler months, this ridge generally shifts north to central Australia, allowing fronts to propagate from west to east over southern parts of the country, bringing enhanced wind and showers. Image: Forecast 850hPa winds (GFS) as a cold front crosses south of WA on Saturday evening. Because this front is further south than the mainland, areas including Perth look to miss out on significant winds and rainfall. As we move into the cold season, cold fronts and other wintertime systems should start to impact southern Australia, while the dry season takes hold of the north. Therefore, be sure to keep up to date with the latest warnings and forecasts.
26 Apr 2024, 9:00PM UTC
Bonsoy Gold Coast Pro surf forecast
After an emotional mid-year cut at the Margaret River Pro surf competition in Western Australia last week, surfers that fell below the cut line, along with up-and-coming talent, will be battling it out on the Gold Coast from this weekend onwards. The first stop on the Challenger Series (the lesser format of the Championship Tour) will take place along the Gold Coast’s premier surf point breaks, starting this morning and running to Saturday May 4th. While forecasting the appearance of recently “retired” GOAT Kelly Slater is quite the challenge until he actually hits the water (even following his confirmed spot on the events draw), the forecast for the actual surf is a little bit more straightforward. This weekend will see chest-to-maybe-head-high waves pealing along the sand bottom points as a combination of a medium sized south swell wraps around the point (loosing size in doing so), with a smaller background east swell also running in the background, biggest on Saturday and a touch smaller on Sunday. Conditions will be good with southerly winds keeping the wave face on the cleaner side. Showers will also increase on Saturday, persisting on Sunday, so pack an umbrella if you plan on going down to see some of the action this weekend. Image of modeled Mean Sea Level Pressure (MSLP) and surface winds according to ECMWF showing the various swell being generated late this week for the weekend, with a larger south swell and smaller east swell providing ample surf for the start of the competition. Next week will see the south swell ease off, with easterly trade swell generally persisting in the small range. Smaller waves will prove more of a challenge for competitors, but enough energy should push into the point to keep competition going over the early-to-mid-week. Winds will become much lighter on Monday and Tuesday, with possibly more easterly seabreezes bringing a ruffle to the waves in the afternoons, before the return of southerly winds from Wednesday or Thursday onwards. Showers will also ease off, with some warmer temperatures making way for more pleasant conditions for spectators. Image of modeled MSLP and surface winds on Tuesday 30th according to ECMWF showing the various swell being generated next week, with a few weaker south and east swell in the mix, providing smaller surf with lighter winds. The latter half of the competition window is much more uncertain, but some models have a low spinning up in the Tasman Sea, bringing the possibility of larger waves to close off this year's Gold Coast Pro. The size of the surf wrapping into the points will depend on the location of any developing low, with the closest proximity providing the most size. Competitors and organizers will keep a keen eye on the forecast for the possibility of larger surf on finals day. Image of modeled MSLP and surface winds next weekend according to ECMWF showing the prospect for larger southerly swell being generated late next week and into next weekend.
Weather in Business
23 Apr 2024, 12:07AM UTC
Wind returning to southeastern Australia
After a prolonged period of light winds, a surge of powerful winds and cool air will push through southeastern Australia during the next 48 hours. As we wrote about last week the National Electricity Market (NEM) saw very low wind power generation during the seven days leading up to Thursday, April 18, with the daily wind generation having been under 41 GWh/day for this period. Wind power has improved slightly during the past week, with wind power increasing for a few days over last weekend. The chart below shows that the winds across the NEM have already increased in response to a cold front approaching SA and Vic on Tuesday. The increase in wind power is associated with a cold front sweeping across southeastern Australia, after a stubborn high-pressure system forced many cold fronts south for over a week. The map below shows the cold front marching across the Bight, approaching SA on Tuesday morning. You can also see a broad area of speckled cloud in the Bight, which is a tell-tale sign that a large mass of cold polar air has broken away from the Antarctic region and is venturing into the relatively warm mid-latitudes. Image: Himawari-9 satellite image at 9:30am AEST on Tuesday, April 23. Northwesterly winds will continue to strengthen ahead of the cold front on Tuesday in SA and Vic before a strong southwesterly change hits Adelaide on Tuesday afternoon and Melbourne in the evening. The images below show the wind gust forecast for Tuesday and Wednesday afternoon. Image: Instantaneous wind gust forecast at 1pm AEST on Tuesday (top) (bottom)and Wednesday, April 23 and 24, according to ECMWF While most of this wind should hit the wind power ‘sweet spot’, cut outs could occur at southeastern Vic and southern NSW wind farms late Tuesday into Wednesday. Generally, cut outs occur when wind speeds exceed 90km/h (25 m/s), which is when the wind turbines are turned off to prevent damage. In the image above you can see the front and associated southerly change moving up the NSW coast on Wednesday, hitting Sydney on Wednesday afternoon. Winds will then become light later this week as another high-pressure system moves into the Bight. Cool change coming Ahead of this change, much of southeastern Australia has experienced pleasant autumnal weather, with Sydney’s temperature for the next two days reaching 27°C. However, there will be a large temperature contrast ahead and behind the cold front in the next few days. The image below shows forecast air temperatures around 1.5km above sea level on Wednesday morning, showing the cool airmass moving over parts of SA, VIC, Tas. Behind the cold front strong southwesterly winds will cause temperatures to plummet to around 2-3°C below average across southern Australia; Melbourne and Adelaide's temperature dropping to around 16-18°C for several days following the front. Hobart’s temperature will drop from 22°C on Tuesday to 15°C on Wednesday. Sydney’s temperature will go from 5°C above average on Wednesday to average on Thursday. The coolest air will move over Tas, bringing snow to the alpine region there. Looking ahead, temperatures will recover later this week ahead of another cold front and burst of wind power early next week.
18 Apr 2024, 3:20AM UTC
Generation gone with the wind
A weeklong stretch of low wind power was broken on Wednesday evening, as a weak cold front marched across southern Australia. The chart below shows that the National Electricity Market (NEM) has endured a weeklong stretch of low wind generation, with wind power providing around 6% of the NEM’s electricity, down from last year’s average of 13.1% (Mon, April 15 to Wed, April 17). The daily wind generation has been under 41 GWh/day for the last seven days leading up to Thursday, April 18. The calmest winds occurred on Sunday, April 14 with only 24 GWh/day produced or 4.6% of grid demand. To put this in perspective, the average daily wind generation during the last year up to Wednesday, April 17, 2024, was 71 GWh/day, according to data from the open NEM. This prolonged period of low wind was caused by blocking high pressure systems sitting over southern Australia, forcing cold fronts or strong wind further south. The image below shows the Mean Sea Level Pressure chart on the calmest day, Sunday, April 14, with high pressure stubbornly sitting over the southern half of the country. Image: Mean Sea Level Pressure Analysis at 4am AEST on Sunday, April 14. Source: Bureau of Meteorology. As we mentioned earlier today, a positive Southern Annular Mode (SAM) has led to consistent high pressure systems positioned over latitudes well south of Australia during the first three months of the year and during this week. This has kept cold fronts south of the mainland, and even south of Tasmania. READ MORE: WHAT IS THE SAM? The period of light winds ended abruptly on Wednesday evening, with WattClarity reporting that wind production peaking above 3,000 MW at 9:10pm AEST. The increased wind power on Wednesday night, was caused by a couple of factors; A weak cold front swept across the southeast on Wednesday, bringing stronger winds. A very shallow temperature inversion formed in the early evening protecting the surface from the stronger winds, but the wind turbine hub-height (150 metres above the ground) winds remained strong at around 28-38 km/h in SA. Temperature inversions form at night when the ground cools quicker than the air above it, meaning that the temperature increases with height for a thin layer of the atmosphere. During autumn, the temperature inversions are commonly shallow meaning that while the wind could be weak at the surface, the hub heights could continue to experience strong winds. A similar phenomenon could happen again tonight across southern Australia, with another cold front passing across the south. Looking ahead, light winds are expected to continue from Friday as a stubborn high-pressure system builds over the Bight until early to mid-next week.
