Australian Weather

Today, 12:36AM UTC

Melbourne will turn on its classic "four seasons in a day" weather in the 24-hour window during which the two AFL preliminary finals will take place at the MCG this Friday and Saturday. Friday's Melbourne weather Friday will be relatively warm for September, with a maximum of 22°C which is nearly five degrees above the long-term September average of 17.3°C. But the situation will start to change as we approach the 7:40pm opening bounce for the Geelong vs Hawthorn preliminary final, as a cold front surges across Victoria. The coldest air from the front is not due until around midnight, but strong wind gusts and potentially heavy showers can be expected during the match, creating challenging conditions for players and spectators alike. Saturday's Melbourne weather If Friday began with just a faint a hint of summer, Saturday will feel like midwinter from the get-go, with cold westerly winds. While showers across Melbourne should be mostly light and relatively infrequent, the mercury should only reach around 15°C in the afternoon, with an apparent or "feels like" temperature below 10°C all day. So if you’re attending the MCG for the Collingwood vs Brisbane match which starts at 5:15pm, it will pay to wear a scarf in your team’s colours, plus a couple of thick layers. READ MORE (OUR STORY FROM THIS WEDNESDAY): Melbourne activates its 'rain shield', dodging moisture from the northwest For the rest of the weekend in Melbourne, expect a late shower on Sunday with a maximum of 17°C, and further showers into Monday with a slightly chillier maximum around 15°C. As for the AFL Grand Final which begins at 2:30pm on Saturday, September 27, it’s too early to predict weather conditions with any confidence. But long-range models currently suggest a period of cool, unstable weather for southern Victoria as a cold front moves in from the southwest. We’ll update you next week. Our Melbourne forecast is here. And then there were four ????#AFLFinals pic.twitter.com/eZteVDXMfi — AFL (@AFL) September 13, 2025 Footy weather in other cities this weekend For those interested in the NRL finals this weekend, Canberra will cop the chill and a shower or two from the cold front on Saturday, meaning that the Raiders vs Sharks match which kicks off at 7:40pm at Canberra’s GIO Stadium on Saturday night will be another chilly event for both spectators and players. A minimum of just 1°C is expected in Canberra on Sunday morning, with a "feels like" temperature hovering very close to zero for much of the match. The Bulldogs vs Panthers match at 4:05pm on Sunday at Sydney’s Accor Stadium should take place in perfect conditions under clear skies with mild temperatures in the low 20s. Click the relevant city for our Canberra and Sydney forecasts. And we’d better not forget the SANFL Grand Final in Adelaide between Sturt and Glenelg at the Adelaide Oval at 2:30pm (ACST) on Sunday, where it will be cool and breezy with showers likely clearing before game time. Our Adelaide forecast is here. This morning’s 2025 Grand Final Press Conference ???? Watch the full video: https://t.co/OWARBDczzF ???? James Elsby pic.twitter.com/xmC3wgVEQn — SANFL (@SANFL) September 16, 2025 Nor should we overlook the WAFL Grand Final between South Fremantle and East Perth beginning at 3:20pm (AWST) on Sunday at Perth’s Optus Stadium, where the weather should be clear and quite warm. Our Perth forecast is here.

16 Sep 2025, 4:33AM UTC

Three separate earthquakes were detected across NSW on Monday night into Tuesday morning, with reports of shaking coming in from the coast to the state’s far west. According to Geoscience Australia, the trio of earthquakes occurred between 11pm on Monday and 8am on Tuesday AEST. Earthquake 1 The first tremor of this sequence was a 3.8 magnitude earthquake that occurred shortly after 11pm to the west of the Macquarie Marshes, roughly 50 km to the southwest of Carinda. Despite occurring in a sparsely populated part of the state, shaking from the earthquake was felt in at least three separate locations to the west of the epicentre. Earthquake 2 Monday night’s earthquake was followed by a shallow 3.7 magnitude earthquake near Muswellbrook in the Hunter Valley just after 2:20am on Tuesday. The epicentre of this earthquake was at the site of the Mount Arthur Coal Mine, a region that has seen a flurry of earthquakes in recent years, including magnitude 4.7 and 4.4 earthquakes on two consecutive days in August 2024. While mining operations can induce weak and shallow earthquakes, less than magnitude 2, research has shown that even large open pit mines are not able to trigger moderate or strong earthquakes. Earthquake 3 A third earthquake occurred near Bulahdelah just before 7:50am on Tuesday. This 3.1 magnitude tremor occurred at a depth of 9 km and was felt from Nelson Bay up to Forster and inland to Maitland, with Geoscience collecting around 100 felt reports across the Hunter and lower Mid North Coast regions. Image: Felt grid for the Bulahdelah earthquake on Tuesday morning. Source: Geoscience Australia. How common are earthquakes in Australia? Australia is in a relatively stable region of the planet for earthquake activity. Earthquakes are more common and stronger along Earth’s tectonic plate boundaries, which are the areas where large pieces of Earth’s crust meet each other. Australia is classified as a ‘stable continental region’, which means it sits far away from any major plate boundaries. While this does not make Australia immune to tremors, it means that most earthquakes in Australia are shallow, but they can still be powerful. On average, Australia experiences about 100 earthquakes of magnitude 3 or more each year, while earthquakes exceeding magnitude 5 only happen about once every two years. Stronger earthquakes exceeding magnitude 6 only happen about once per decade in Australia. One aspect of earthquakes that is often misunderstood is how much more powerful they become as you move up through the moment magnitude scale. Every whole unit you go up represents a 30-fold increase in the amount of energy released by the earthquake. This means that a magnitude 6 earthquake releases 27,000 times more energy than a magnitude 3 earthquake (30 x 30 x 30). You can track the latest earthquake activity in Australia on the Geoscience Australia website.