There are no active warnings for this location.
Weather Maps
Daily Forecast
A tropical low will become tropical cyclone Kirrily as it approaches the QLD coast. The monsoon trough in the northern tropics & a low in the Pilbara are causing heavy rain, storms & gusty winds. Other troughs are bringing showers & storms to WA, SA, VIC & the southern interior.
Latest Warnings
AUS
Latest News
Climate Updates
Weather in Business
Latest News
Today, 4:40AM UTC
Queensland's hottest morning on record
Temperatures failed to drop below 35.2ºC at Birdsville on Tuesday morning, setting a new high minimum temperature record for Queensland. A very hot air mass combined with patchy nocturnal cloud caused the temperatures to remain exceptionally high in Birdsville on Monday night into Tuesday morning. After reaching a high of 45.0ºC on Monday afternoon, the temperature was still above 40ºC at 11pm that night. At 2am Tuesday it had only cooled to 38ºC and the coolest point of the morning was 35.2ºC at 5:58am. Tuesday morning's minimum of 35.2ºC at Birdsville was about 9ºC above the long-term average for a January morning. Impressively, it was also the highest minimum temperature ever record in Qld and the equal 10th highest minimum temperature on recorded in Australia. The previous high minimum temperature record in Qld was 35.1ºC at Ballera Gas Field on January 26, 2019, while the Australian national record stands at 36.6ºC from Wanaaring, NSW also on January 26, 2019. The extreme heat currently affecting southwest Qld is part of a broader hot air mass spread over parts of central, southern and northwestern Australia this week, where it is also challenging records.
Today, 12:01AM UTC
Extreme heat and heavy rain targeting Pilbara
A burst of record-challenging heat will be followed by heavy rain and thunderstorms in the Pilbara this week, as a tropical low drifts towards northwestern Australia. A very hot air mass has been sitting over the north of WA for the past several weeks, pushing temperatures into the mid-to-high forties every day since the middle of December. This relentless heat will intensify even further on Tuesday, possibly pushing the mercury close to 50ºC in parts of the Pilbara under the influence of a surge of southerly winds. The images below shows that two global forecast models are picking temperatures over 50ºC in the Pilbara on Tuesday. If temperatures do get as high as these models are predicting, there is no guarantee that it will be observed at one of the Bureau of Meteorology’s weather stations in the region. Images: Forecast maximum temperature on Tuesday, January 23, 2024, according to the ECMWF-HRES (top) and ACCESS-G (bottom) models. The southerly winds that will drive hot air into the Pilbara on Tuesday are located on the western flank of a low pressure trough situated across the north of WA. Within this trough is a tropical low that has been causing heavy rain in the NT over the last one to two weeks. Some areas of the NT have received several hundred millimetres of rain over the last fortnight, with Elliot’s 433 mm during the past 12 days amounting to three times its January monthly average. This rain-bearing low pressure system has now moved across the border into WA and will continue to spread rain and storms across the state’s north over the next few days. Most forecast models suggest the low will move towards the west and soak inland areas of the Pilbara and parts of the state’s Interior over the next few days. Some models predict 50 to 100 mm of rain over a broad area stretching from the North Interior across to the Southern Pilbara between now and Thursday. Locally intense rainfall due to thunderstorms could produce six-hourly rain rates of up to 100 mm in this area. However, there is some uncertainty regarding where and how much rain will fall, highlighted by images below. Images: Forecast accumulated rain during the 72 hours ending on Thursday night, according to the ECMWF-HRES model (top), ACCESS-G model (middle) and GFS model (bottom). Showers and storms will extend further west into the Pilbara and Gascoyne from Friday, eroding the hot air mass that has gripped the regions for months. A severe weather warning and flood watch have been issued for the northern inland of WA in response to this system. Be sure to stay up to date with the latest warnings for the most accurate information on this developing weather event.
Today, 12:00AM UTC
Searing hot day in SA
Temperatures will soar across SA on Tuesday, with temperatures expected to reach the mid to high 40’s in some areas. This heat is being driven by an extremely hot airmass ahead of a low-pressure trough near the state on Tuesday. The day began hot for many SA towns, with the mercury at Oodnadatta hitting 35.9°C at 7:42am ACDT on Tuesday. Adelaide also sweltered through a warm night with the lowest temperature of 24.6°C recorded at 6:43am. The warm morning has given the temperature a healthy head start across much of SA, with Adelaide already over 30°C at 9am and over 38ºC by midday. The temperature is set to climb to around 41°C in Adelaide on Tuesday afternoon, while some areas in SA will see temperatures climb into the mid to high 40’s. Image: Maximum temperature forecast on Tuesday, January 23, according to the ECMWF model These maximum temperatures, along with very warm minimum temperatures, are creating severe heatwave conditions across northern SA, while extreme heatwave conditions are forecast in the state's Northwest Pastoral district. The map below shows the heatwave severity for three days starting Tuesday, January 23. Image: Heatwave severity for the three days starting Tuesday, January 23 Thunderstorms and showers are forecast to develop along the low-pressure trough in the north and west on Tuesday afternoon and evening. The cloud associated with this trough should trap the heat overnight across northern parts of SA on Tuesday night. For those in Adelaide, a weak southerly change is forecast to move through the city between 4-6pm ACST on Tuesday, which will unfortunately only provide a little bit of relief to the sweltering city. The temperature in Adelaide should remain above 35°C until around 8-9pm ACST, before the temperature finally drops below 30°C between 10:30-11:30pm ACST. The red line in the map below shows Adelaide’s temperature forecast, with the temperature dropping behind the stronger southerly push. Image: Temperature (red line) and dewpoint (blue) and confidence interval spread (red shade temperature, blue shade dewpoint) for Adelaide in ACST. The chart above shows that the minimum temperature in Adelaide early Wednesday morning will fail to drop below about 23°C. Fortunately, the maximum temperature on Wednesday will be around 10°C cooler than Tuesday, with a top of 31°C forecast. While Adelaide is slightly cooler on Wednesday, northern parts of SA will remain in the mid to high 40’s until later this week.
Weather in Business
04 Jan 2024, 4:03AM UTC
Why did electricity demand hit a record low?
On the closing day of 2023, rooftop solar boomed in SA and Vic while record low energy demand was recorded in the two states. On Sunday, December 31, mild temperatures and sunny skies were behind the new record low energy demand in SA and Vic. The satellite image below shows the clear skies on Sunday across Australia's southeast mainland, which allowed rooftop solar output to become the leading energy source in SA and Vic. Image: Himawari-9 satellite image at 1pm AEDT on Sunday, December 31, 2023. Source: RAMMB/CIRA According to the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO), Victoria’s minimal operational demand was 1,564 MW on Sunday, December 31, which beat the previous record that was set Sunday, November 12, 2023. SA’s demand dropped into the negatives on the same day, reaching as low as -26MW on New Year's Eve, which trumped the previous record low set back in October 2023. These new records superseded the ones set only several months ago, showing the National Energy Market (NEM) has had a period of abnormally low demand in the past couple of months. This has been driven by cooler temperatures under the influence of a positive phase of the Southern Annular Mode (SAM) and the waning impact of El Nino in December. The image below shows that on the same day, rooftop solar (yellow) contributed most of SA and Vic energy needs. Image: Vic and SA electricity generation on Sunday, December 31, Source Wattclarity The Image above also shows that wind and solar farms contributed near zero energy demand during the middle of the same day. It also shows that brown coal and rooftop solar were the two main sources of energy for the grid in the middle of the day in the states. On Sunday, winds were relatively light under the influence of a high-pressure ridge extending from Bight to the southern Tasman Sea. According to AEMO, rooftop solar contributed two-thirds of VIC's & all of SA's total energy needs on December 31. New operational demand records set in VIC (1,564 MW) & SA (-26 MW) on 31 December 2023, with #rooftopsolar contributing two-thirds of VIC's & all of SA's total energy needs. On the day, wholesale electricity prices averaged -$66.54 & -$73.02 ($/MWh) in SA & VIC, respectively. pic.twitter.com/0JUorY4wG4 — AEMO (@AEMO_Energy) January 2, 2024 Rooftop solar has been increasing year-on-year since 2018, driven by a boom in solar installations across Australia. Looking ahead, January looks to be wetter and cloudier than average across much of the NEM. February is expected to see near-to-below average rainfall and cloud, which could increase solar output in the closing month of summer.
22 Nov 2023, 12:22AM UTC
Is Australia a great place for offshore wind farms?
Australia has some of the best offshore wind resources in the world, which are set to be captured by facilities scattered across our vast coastline in several years time. The offshore wind industry is booming internationally, as countries around the globe use it as part of their renewable energy transition. Wind farms are typically placed in windy locations, such as hilltops, but now Australia is looking offshore. According to the Global Wind Energy Council, Australia has the potential to generate 5,000 gigawatts of electricity from offshore wind, which is 100 times the installed capacity of Australia's two largest electricity networks. However, it's likely to be several years before an offshore wind farm becomes operational in Australia. The map below shows that the offshore wind resources in Australia are mostly around southern Australia near cities and industrial hubs and mining. Image: The mean wind speed along our coastline in m/s and the offshore wind resources in Australia, October 2021, Source: NOPSEMA Why go offshore? There are several reasons why offshore wind farms are beneficial sources of energy in Australia, such as strong winds over the ocean, reduction in costs and the size of turbines and farms over water. Strong winds over the ocean Wind speeds across the ocean are consistently stronger than those over land, meaning more wind power can be produced by these offshore facilities. The strongest winds in Australia are typically around coastal regions including western Tas and Vic, the Eyre Peninsula in SA, the southwestern coastline of WA, and the Great Australian Bight. The winds are strongest in these regions due to the passage of cold fronts or low pressure systems and the Roaring Forties. The Roaring Forties are gale force westerly winds that typically blow between the latitudes of 40° and 50° south shown in the image below. These winds gain their power from the planetary–scale circulation as the atmosphere moves hot air from the equator to the poles. Since the planet rotates, these winds are deflected to blow from west to east by the Coriolis Effect. Unlike in the Northern Hemisphere, these winds encounter very little land to slow them down in the Southern Hemisphere, allowing them to blow consistently strongly. Once used regularly by sailors, the power of the roaring forties will be harnessed by offshore wind turbines. Size of turbines and farms While building offshore wind farms is challenging and costly, the size of the wind turbines and farms at sea can be much larger than over land. The size of wind farms and individual turbines over land are restricted in size due to transport and other constraints like land use. The larger the wind turbine, the greater the amount of electricity that can be produced. Cost and technology The technology of offshore wind farms has improved over recent decades which has helped drive the cost of installing the wind farms down. The reduced costs and increased energy output make offshore wind farms a great renewable source of energy. How can Weatherzone help the offshore wind industry? Weatherzone Business offers a comprehensive suite of services, refined through years of collaboration with the marine, ports and offshore industries, to optimise the safety and efficiency of your operations. Click here to learn more.
