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Showers & storms in NSW's north, QLD's west, WA's north & the NT, some intense in QLD. A front brings brisk winds & showers to TAS, SA's south & VIC, heaviest in VIC. Heat is building in the NW tropics, increasing the intensity of a heatwave. Hot winds in QLD.
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Today, 5:04AM UTC
Heat intensifying early in Australia's northwest
Heat has been intensifying early for this time of year in Australia's northwest during the past week and is expected to continue doing so, prompting heatwave warnings. As of Saturday morning, heatwave warnings had been issued for part of the Northern Territory's western Top End, but in the next few days can be expected to also be issued for larger areas, including across much of Western Australia's Kimberley. Image: Heatwave forecast for Thursday 3rd October to Saturday 5th October from Bureau of Meteorology, indicating a heatwave area of Low intensity and Severe. Image: Heatwave forecast for Tuesday 8th October to Thursday 10th October from Bureau of Meteorology, indicating two large heatwave areas of Severe and Extreme. Last weekend, Oenpelli (Gunbulunya), a good three-hour drive east of Darwin, achieved its first back-to-back 40-degree days in September in more than a decade. Since then, Derby, in WA's Kimberley has achieved its hottest week this early in the 'build-up' season in 11 years., averaging a maximum of 39.6 degrees. The so-called 'build-up' is the transition time between the dry and wet seasons, when daily sunshine hours reach their peak and heat and humidity increase. This sort of heat is more typical of mid-to-late October, so has arrived two-to-three weeks earlier than normal. Compared to this time last year, this past week has been the hottest week since early November, reaching the mid-to-high thirties each day. The heat has largely been due to skies staying mostly clear, allowing sunshine to continually heat the ground each day with help from a warmer-than-normal nearby ocean. The sea surface of the eastern Indian Ocean has been running warmer than normal by one-to-two degrees for this time of year, giving nearby land areas an extra heating boost. Image: Sea Surface Temperature Anomalies from NOAA, indicating water about two degrees warmer than normal off Australia's northwest. A clue to the warmer-than-normal eastern Indian Ocean is the 28.3 degrees that Christmas Island warmed to today, its warmest day this early in the season in eight years. As far as the people on the ground go, most locals would be used to this sort of heat, particularly in short spells but may find the longer version challenging by later next week. For tourists, most are likely to find it tiresome so should keep out of the sun and avoid exercise in the heat of the day. Tours around Litchfield Park will become increasingly energy sapping with each day. Darwin itself will remain on the fringes of the heatwave, mostly in the area of Low Intensity, a relative oasis.
04 Oct 2024, 6:23AM UTC
Long weekend weather for the capital cities
It's a long weekend in half the country – or four of the eight Australian states and territories anyway. So enjoy a Monday off if you live in New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia or the ACT. For those wondering, Monday's public holiday is for Labour Day in NSW, SA and the ACT – where it is always celebrated on the first Monday in October. In Queensland, the coming long weekend is to celebrate the King's Birthday (for the record, King Charles was actually born on November 14, 1948). While Labour Day is not celebrated this weekend outside NSW, SA and the ACT, it is celebrated on different dates in the other five states and territories. It's worth noting that Labour Day marks Australian workers winning the right to an eight-hour working day. According to the Australian Unions website, this happened in Sydney and Melbourne in the 1850s – a whole 30 years before the Americans fought for it in the 1880s. So while people in only half of Australia's states and territories will be enjoying Monday off, we thought we’d throw in the three-day weather forecast for all eight capital cities below. Enjoy your weekend, whether it’s two days or three! Sydney Saturday Min: 16°C Max: 27°C Chance of rain: 5% Sunday Min: 15°C Max: 28°C Chance of rain: 5% Monday Min: 15°C Max: 29°C Chance of rain: 50% READ MORE: Perfect weather window for NRL Grand Final Melbourne Saturday Min: 12°C Max: 19°C Chance of rain: 80% Sunday Min: 12°C Max: 20°C Chance of rain: 50% Monday Min: 12°C Max: 19°C Chance of rain: 90% Image: There will showers in Melbourne over the weekend, continuing into Monday which is not a public holiday in Victoria. Source: iStock. Adelaide Saturday Min: 12°C Max: 19°C Chance of rain: 70% Sunday Min: 13°C Max: 21°C Chance- of rain: 40% Monday Min: 12°C Max: 21°C Chance of rain: 40% Brisbane Saturday Min: 14°C Max: 30°C Chance of rain: 10% Sunday Min: 18°C Max: 33°C Chance of rain: 20% Monday Min: 17°C Max: 31°C Chance of rain: 10% Image: It's going to be a very warm few days in Brisbane. Source: iStock. Perth Saturday Min: 12°C Max: 22°C Chance of rain: 20% Sunday Min: 11°C Max: 22°C Chance of rain: 20% Monday Min: 10°C Max: 25°C Chance of rain: 5% Hobart Saturday Min: 11°C Max: 18°C Chance of rain: 60% Sunday Min: 7°C Max: 17°C Chance of rain: 60% Monday Min: 9°C Max: 16°C Chance of rain: 50% Image: Hobart will be chilly and there could even be a few flakes up on kunanyi/Mt Wellington Source: iStock. Canberra Saturday Min: 11°C Max: 21°C Chance of rain: 10% Sunday Min: 8°C Max: 20°C Chance of rain: 5% Monday Min: 8°C Max: 23°C Chance of rain: 30% Darwin Saturday Min: 25°C Max: 35°C Chance of rain: 10% Sunday Min: 25°C Max: 35°C Chance of rain: 20% Monday Min: 25°C Max: 36°C Chance of rain: 5%
04 Oct 2024, 12:40AM UTC
Don't make this common daylight saving mistake
Daylight saving starts this weekend in NSW, Victoria, the ACT, South Australia and Tasmania, with clocks instantly ticking forward to 3 am at 2am on Sunday. As ever, Western Australia, Queensland and the NT will not join the party – meaning there will be a three-hour time difference between Perth and the southeastern capital cities. States are once again divided as parts of the country prepare for daylight saving. Reporter @TamraBow has more. WATCH SUNRISE FOR MORE | @7plus ?? pic.twitter.com/3QTKoNEeEv — Sunrise (@sunriseon7) October 3, 2024 "Spring forward, fall back." That has always been the most helpful phrase to remind you whether to turn the clocks forward or backward. Not that most people change their clocks manually in the digital age, but back in the day, some people always seemed to set their timepieces the wrong way by an hour. But there's another thing people get wrong all the time. They call it "daylight savings" – like the savings you (hopefully) have in the bank. But the phrase is not plural. It is, quite simply, "daylight saving". As in, you are saving daylight by making sunrise an hour later and sunset an hour later. READ MORE: Greenland makes daylight saving permanent Image: Don't forget to do this if you have an old-school clock. Source: iStock. According to the Royal Australian Historical Society, daylight saving was briefly introduced way back in 1916 as a wartime fuel-saving measure during World War I. Tasmania was the first state to adopt daylight saving permanently. That was in 1967, and it was an alternative to power rationing during a drought. In 1971, New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Victoria, and the ACT also adopted daylight saving. Queensland abandoned it a year later. Western Australia and the Northern Territory have never had it. Image: From this Sunday, it'll be midday on the Gold Coast but still 11 am way in the distance across the Tweed River in NSW. Source: iStock. Daylight saving is seen as most advantageous to city dwellers working a traditional 9 to 5 working day, who can enjoy leisure activities after work in natural light. But people on the land say it disrupts their schedule, and the schedule of the animals they work with, while people in northern Australia prefer their extra hour of light at the coolest time of day – hence the reluctance of Queenslanders and Territorians to adopt it. Whether you're a fan or a foe of daylight saving, just remember that it's not "daylight savings". We are saving an hour of daylight, not "savings" it.
Weather in Business
28 Aug 2024, 3:51AM UTC
Gales and crosswinds cause disruptions at Sydney Airport
Gale force west to northwesterly winds are creating havoc at Sydney airport on Wednesday afternoon, with all six landing and takeoff options impacted by very strong cross winds. Sydney airport saw gale force west to northwesterly mean wind speeds of 65km/h at 12:30pm, while the site has been gusting up to 82km/h. These winds are too strong for all three runways (six landing and takeoff options) to be used safely, airport traffic typically peaks during light winds. The image below shows that two of Sydney Airport’s parallel runways are orientated from north to south, and one single runway runs from west to east. Image: Sydney Airport runway orientation showing two parallel runways running north/south and one west/east, Source: Sydney Airport The west-east runway is the longest and can accept the largest aircraft, the A380. The gale force west to northwesterly winds on Wednesday are causing around 25 knots of crosswind on each of the six runway options. Image: Weatherzone’s cross wind calculator in our Aviation Dashboard showing cross wind or X wind of 24 to 25 knots. The term ‘crosswinds’ refers to winds that blow perpendicular to the runway, which can generate a significant lateral force on the aircraft, making it difficult for pilots to maintain a stable trajectory. The strong crosswinds can cause the plane to drift off course, posing a serious risk to both the aircraft and its passengers. Sydney Airport typically changes runways when there’s sustained crosswind gusts above 20 knots (37km/h). However, on Wednesday crosswinds are affecting all runways, meaning that aircraft are often opting to use the two north-south runways to increase traffic. This has meant that some flights have tried twice to land in these difficult conditions. It is very rare for crosswinds to impact all runways and therefore this event is causing significant disruptions at the airport on Wednesday. This event is not isolated to the Sydney area, numerous severe weather warnings for gales and damaging and/or destructive winds are in place across four states and the ACT, as a strong cold front lashes Tasmania and southeastern parts of the continent. So when will these winds die down? Conditions will ease somewhat by Wednesday evening, but not before the Sydney airport peak hour between 5 and 7pm. Winds will intensify again on Friday and into the weekend as further fronts whip through southern parts of the country.
23 Aug 2024, 5:01AM UTC
A great week for Tassie Hydro
Hundreds of millimetres of rainfall are forecast for western Tasmania in the next week, which will help replenish hydroelectric lakes in the region after some of the lowest rainfall on record. Hydropower is Tasmania’s main source of electricity, with frequent rain filling Tassie Hydro’s 54 major dams and feeding into 30 hydropower stations. In fact, during winter, the state usually exports electricity to Victoria, via the underwater Basslink. In summer, when it is usually drier, the state relies on the National Electricity Market (NEM) for a top up of power. Image: Hydroelectricity dam at Strathgordon in Tasmania According to Hydro Tasmania, they produce around 9000 gigawatts of clean renewable electricity from hydropower, enough to power 900,000 homes or businesses. The map below shows the catchments and power stations scattered across Tasmania; the largest lakes used for hydro are the Great Lake and Gordon-Pedder. The rain that falls in these catchments or dams is collected and used to generate electricity. Image: Hydro catchment areas. Source: Hydro Tasmania Usually, the west coast of Tasmania is the wettest due to prevailing westerly winds from cold fronts passing over the state, which tend to be blocked by vast mountains through central areas. During the past three months, unfortunately, this has not been the case for the west coast. Overall, the area has seen below average rain, reaching record lows in the far northwest, while the east coast saw average to above average rain. Image: Tasmania rain deciles between May 1 and July 31, 2024. Source: Bureau of Meteorology During July 2024, rain in western and central Tasmania was in the lowest 10% of Julys since 1900. The below average rain has affected water storage across western Tasmania, with some areas seeing record low or very much below average streamflow. The Great Lake was only 25.1% full by the end of July, which is a 10.4% decrease from the same time last year. Image: Streamflow decile categories for July 2024. Source: BOM The good news is that rain is on its way, with a complex low pressure system set to direct several cold fronts across the state in the coming week. Western Tasmania is forecast to see around 100 to 200mm of rain in the next 7 days, which could help fill up the western lakes, including the Gordon-Pedder. Eastern Tasmania, however, will see slightly less rain, with widespread falls of 30 to 50mm and isolated falls of 60 to 80mm. Image: Accumulated rain forecast for the next 7 days leading up to 10pm AEST on Thursday, August 29. Some of these totals will fall as snow as a cold airmass moves over the state from mid to late next week. Looking ahead, the rain should continue next Friday, August 30, and into the weekend as the low continues to linger over the region.
