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Troughs & a front & low are causing blustery winds, showers & alpine snow across TAS, VIC & NSW & patchy rain in SA's north. Southeasterly winds on the QLD coast & in the NT's Top End are causing just showers. A high is keeping elsewhere dry, leading to a chilly morning in WA.
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Today, 3:06AM UTC
Tasmania on repeat
It’s been another wet and windy 24 hours for Tasmania as yet another front has crossed the state. Northern and northwestern parts of the state took the brunt of the rainfall, with widespread falls of 25-50mm across the north and falls exceeding 50mm in some locations. Notable figures, for the 24 hours to 9am this morning include: Henty Canal Chainage (65mm), Lake Margaret (64mm), Mount Read and Pine Tree Rivulet (56mm) and Mount Victoria (53mm). Whilst the north did see the most rainfall, there were decent falls of up to 25mm across the south, with the east coast rounding out with largely below 10mm. Tasmanian's have had their fair share of wind over the last couple of weeks, with Maatsuyker Island equalling its strongest-ever wind gust of 200km/h at the end of July, as written here: https://www.weatherzone.com.au/news/tasmania-equals-wild-wind-record-with-200-kmh-gust/1419116. Access-G 10m wind gusts over Tasmania leading into the early hours of the morning on Saturday 5th Whilst winds didn't peak close to this overnight, there were still some fairly blustery conditions around. Maatsuyker Island took out the top spot again with a gust of 122km/h around 1.45am this morning, with Mount Wellington not too far behind at 107km/h. Other notable wind gusts include Hogan Island and the Hartz Mountains at 98km/h, Cape Grim with 87km/h and Cape Bruny at 82km/h. High pressure will continue to build today as this current frontal system continues to the east, with the high drifting over the region until at least Tuesday, bringing much more settled conditions than of late.
04 Aug 2023, 2:30AM UTC
Lake Argyle fire seen from above and below
A fire on the bank of Lake Argyle in Western Australia has created an opportunity for captivating images this week. Lake Argyle, located roughly 50 km to the south of Kununurra, is Australia’s second largest man-made freshwater reservoir. Following the region’s wettest wet season in nine years, the lake is currently holding around 9775 gigalitres of water behind the Ord River Dam. This is just over 90 percent of the dam’s capacity and a 34 percent increase on the same time last year. But while the water sitting in Lake Argyle is a legacy of the healthy wet season just passed, the fire currently burning on its bank is a clear sign of the dry season. Image: Rainfall observations over the past 12 months at Kununurra Airport, showing a wetter-than-normal wet season and a typically-dry dry season. The sequence of satellite images below was captured by the Himawari-9 satellite on Thursday, showing a large plume of smoke blowing to the west of Lake Argyle. The smoke in the images above was caused by a fire burning on the western bank of Lake Argyle. The image below shows the location of the fire using an enhanced (false-colour) satellite image captured by the NOAA-20 satellite on Thursday. Image: Enhanced false-colour satellite image of the fire near Lake Argyle, captured on Thursday, August 3, 2023. Source: NASA Worldview The Lake Argyle fire has also been impressive to watch from the ground, especially at night. The image below shows the fire reflecting across the surface of the lake earlier this week. Image: Fire at Lake Argyle, WA. Source: @dimitri_georges / Instagram The fire at Lake Argyle is one of several active fires that are burning across the Kimberley this week, which is normal activity for this time of year. Check the DFES website for more information on fires currently burning in WA.
04 Aug 2023, 1:26AM UTC
Hair dryer, then warm bath in the snowfields
Locals call it the "hair dryer". It's a strong, warm northwesterly wind that erodes the Aussie snowpack like a bushfire burns through forest. Normally you expect the hair dryer to show up in September, or if you're unlucky, around late August. But this year, it's already here on August 4. After an extremely warm July and an even warmer first three days of August, the hair dryer is in full force across the Australian snowfields, with strong winds and very warm temperatures. Temperature departure from normal across Australia at lunchtime (central/eastern) today. pic.twitter.com/WuUjPHFRKh — Andrew Miskelly (@andrewmiskelly) August 4, 2023 For example Perisher had a minimum temp of 3.4°C last night, staying above 5°C for much of the night with consistent winds gusts well above 50 km/h. Those are pure hair dryer conditions Look away now if the sight of rapidly growing muddy and grassy patches on ski slopes disturbs you. Image: Slopes at Mt Buller hanging in there... just. Source: Ski.com.au. Image: Slopes at Guthega (part of Perisher resort) hanging in there... just. Source: Ski.com.au. The bad news? It's going to rain later this Friday as a band of moisture arrives before all this warm air has dissipated. The good news? Some snow is coming overnight and into Saturday morning as the cold front which brought bitterly cold temps to WA finally pays a visit to eastern Australia. Sadly for snow lovers, the front has lost most of its vigour on the way. READ MORE: WARMEST JULY ON RECORD FOR PARTS OF AUSTRALIA Earlier this week there was hope that Friday night's snow might repair some of the recent damage to the snowpack, but the definitive answer now is that it won't. The Australian ski season that started so promisingly is no longer in such great shape. While the picture is grim for resorts at low altitude and the lower slopes of the main resorts, conditions remain reasonable in higher areas. For example, Australia's two highest resorts Perisher and Thredbo both still have most of their lifts open. Victoria's two highest resorts Falls Creek and Hotham are doing OK too. Image: Conditions are still pretty good on Mt Perisher, the highest part of Perisher resort, even if some runs like this one were inaccessible on Friday due to chairlifts on wind hold. Source: Ski.com.au. Let's face it: Any Aussie snow is good snow, so if you're heading down for a slide, enjoy. Click on the links for the latest ski conditions at Thredbo, Perisher, Charlotte Pass, Selwyn (NSW) and Mt Buller, Hotham, Falls Creek and Mt Baw Baw (Vic). And please check our snow page for the latest forecasts, cams, and more.
Weather in Business
20 Jun 2023, 7:11AM UTC
Blast Dispersion Modelling
Same blast, vastly different outcome. The Weatherzone Blast Dispersion Model syncs your blasting parameters with local weather forecasts to create an accurate and detailed simulation of the blast. Here we have identical blasts simulated at different times. The winds at each time directs the blast pollutants. They travel towards the town on the left, and clear of it on the right, potentially saving millions in damages. To find out more about our Blast Dispersion Modelling, please visit our website or email us at business@weatherzone.com.au.
13 Mar 2023, 6:31AM UTC
How an ash cloud mirrors mining blasts
On Saturday, Indonesia's most active volcano, Mount Merapi, erupted, sending huge plumes of ash into the sky. It serves as a large-scale reminder of how ash and dust from explosions, including in mining and demolition, can travel and spread. Mount Merapi erupted at 5am UTC (1pm WST) on Saturday afternoon. Most notable was a fast-moving pyroclastic flow full of superheated lava, ash and rock that spewed down the volcano’s southwestern face. 1/3 Woahhh! Today: Massive eruption at Merapi #volcano, #Java, #Indonesia. Pyroclastic flow of hot rock fragments, volcanic gases, and air descended on southeastern flank. Reached 7km from summit, close to populated areas. No reported casualties yet. #Merapi pic.twitter.com/sXM7vZmRZO — Volcaholic (@CarolynnePries1) March 11, 2023 The ash cloud could be seen from space, though was difficult to visually distinguish from thunderstorms developing nearby. Here is an enhanced feed from the Himawari-9 satellite that highlights fine particles in the air. In this case, the ash appears as bright pink, compared to the surrounding storm clouds in yellow. The pink cloud can be seen initially shooting off to the southwest of the volcano as the pyroclastic flow ran down its side and gave it momentum. As the ash cloud grew and time passed, the cloud then starts to drift to the northwest, driven by the southeasterly winds over the region. Image: Himawari-9 enhanced satellite and black wind streamlines showing the winds at about 1km elevation spreading the ash cloud to the northwest. While a volcanic eruption is obviously a very large explosion, the behaviour of dust, ash, smoke and fine particles are the same on smaller spatial scales. When explosions are used for mining or demolition, particles are sent into the air that can cause harmful effects to workers or nearby communities near to the site. Weatherzone Business’ Blast Dispersion uses weather models and your explosive input parameters to generate a simulation of how fine particles and nitrous oxides will travel after a blast. By allowing you to select a range of dates and times, it allows you to identify when to detonate to minimise the effect of a blast to your personnel and local community. Video: A sample blast dispersion showing the concentration of PM10 particles For more information on Blast Dispersion, please visit our website or email us at business@weatherzone.com.au.
