Australian Weather

Today, 12:32AM UTC

Radar images are one of the most useful features in modern weather apps and knowing how to interpret radar images is a skill that anyone can learn and everyone should have. What is radar? Radar stands for ‘radio detection and ranging’ and it refers to a system that uses pulses of radio waves to detect objects in the sky. A radar tower sends radio waves out into the atmosphere in short pulses and when these pulses hit objects in the sky, such as water particles, they bounce back towards the radar as ‘echoes’. The strength of these echoes and the time they take to return to the radar tower is then used to calculate what the object is and how far away it is from the radar site. Weather radars are primarily used to detect hydrometeors (water-based particles in the atmosphere), which include rain, hail and snow. However, they can also be used to detect wind and other small objects, including insects and birds. Image: Radar on the Weatherzone app showing rainfall over Vic and NSW on Monday, June 29, 2026. Source: Weatherzone. Types of radar images Modern weather apps typically feature two main types of radar imagery: Reflectivity (precipitation) – used to show rain, hail and snow. This is the most common type of radar imagery that you see on apps. Velocity (wind) – used to show wind speed and direction. Available in some apps and typically shows wind in two colours, one colour for air moving towards the radar site and another colour for air moving away from the radar site. Colour intensity usually correlates to wind speed in these images. Some weather radars also feature a technology called dual-polarisation, which uses both horizontal and vertical pulses to provide more detailed information about precipitation type and intensity. Most modern radars complete one full series of scans every 5 minutes, meaning you will usually be able to see radar images at 5-minute intervals once they arrive on your phone or computer screen. Why is radar useful? Radar is a weather observation, meaning it shows rainfall that is occurring in near real-time. This is different to a rainfall forecast, which uses powerful computer models to predict where and how much rain will fall. Radar images let you keep track of rain that is falling in your region. By viewing multiple radar images in a sequence, you can track rainfall and thunderstorms and find out where they are moving and how intense they are. Image: Radar image (reflectivity) on the Weatherzone website. Source: Weatherzone. How to use weather radar images You can find radar images on most modern weather apps and websites, including Weatherzone. Some apps even specialise in radar images and offer more complex data. Some tips on interpreting weather radar include: Understand the colour scale, as this generally represents precipitation intensity. View multiple radar images in an animated sequence. This helps determine in which direction and how fast rain or storms are moving. Note how rain or storm cells are changing between each image. This can help determine if it is getting more intense or decaying. Check the time of the latest radar image being displayed. Most radar images update every 5 minutes, but there are also a few minutes of processing time before the latest image becomes available. This means the latest radar image might be around 10 minutes old by the time you see it. Very small water droplets can be difficult to detect with radar technology, so you might not be able to see drizzle on a radar image. Radar images can sometimes show things that are not precipitation. These can include insects, birds and aircraft. False echoes can also be caused by technical problems with the radar. The more you use radar imagery, the more obvious these erroneous echoes will be.

08 Jul 2026, 1:51AM UTC

Fresh snow is forecast to fall in the Australian Alps this weekend, after the heaviest falls of the season to date last Friday. The coming system is not expected to deliver a huge quantity of snow. Totals in the vicinity of 10 to 15 cm at the mid-level of most ski resorts, with slightly more at higher elevations, appear a realistic outcome at this stage, with the most consistent period of snow showers occurring on Sunday. But after a lean start to the 2026 snow season, every flake will be welcomed by snow enthusiasts and the resort staff and nearby businesses which depend on the tourist trade. Let’s take a look at the 2026 season to date before we dive further into the impending snowy weather system. 35 cm snowpack after slow start to snow season Image: Snow depths at Spencers Creek, NSW after the first week of July 2026 (the dark blue line) compared to 2025 (light blue). Source: Snowy Hydro. This week, hydro-electric operator Snowy Hydro measured the snowpack at 35.4 cm at Spencers Creek – roughly halfway between the NSW resorts of Perisher and Thredbo. Spencers Creek is the highest of three sites where depths have been regularly measured in the cooler months since 1954. This season was only the second time on record when Spencers Creek was snowless on July 1. While early snow fell before the King’s Birthday long weekend season opening, several moist airmasses with tropical origins then crossed the mountains during June, bringing rain, not snow. Last Friday’s snowfall was a step in the right direction. Since then, the weather has been cool, dry and sunny, enabling the snowpack to condense and form a firm base on which further snowfalls can accumulate. And as mentioned, a top-up looms on the immediate horizon. Image: Sunny skies at Perisher on July 7, 2026. Source: Steve Smith. Windy, snowy weekend ahead When snow falls in Australia, it usually arrives with strong winds, as the vast majority of our snow-bearing systems originate in the strong band of westerlies which circulate the globe south of Australia. The cold front tracking towards southeastern Australia this weekend will be a classic wild, windy, wintry system which will make conditions decidedly unpleasant on in the mountains. At this stage, it doesn’t look like the coldest or snowiest system of the winter, as the cold front will only clip the southeast corner of the mainland. But Tasmania could be in for heavier snowfalls, with totals of 20 cm or more likely over the Central Highlands. Image: Precipitable water and mean sea level pressure for Australia predicted for Australia on July 11, 2026, according to the ECMWF model, showing the westerly flow that will bring snow to the mountains of southeastern Australia. Source: Weatherzone. How is the rest of the season looking for snowfalls? It’s still only relatively early in the season, so there is plenty of time for 2026 to turn into a good snow year. Famously, the 1991 season started poorly like 2026 before frequent snowfalls from mid-July onwards took the season peak to almost three metres at Spencers Creek. That could still happen. Image: A comparison of the 1991 season (light blue) and 2026 season to date (dark blue) at Spencers Creek, NSW. Source: Snowy Hydro. Currently, there are two broad-scale climate drivers affecting Australian weather which are not historically conducive to consistent heavy snowfalls: the positive Southern Annular Mode (SAM) and El Niño. During a positive SAM, the band of westerlies that bring snow to southern Australia tend to circulate the globe at latitudes closer to Antarctica. The SAM index recently hit a three-year high, which was not great news for potential snowfalls. But the SAM now appears to be trending towards a neutral phase. Image: Movement of the SAM index over the past 12 months. Source: BoM. We’re also in an El Niño, which historically has coincided with relatively meagre Australian snow seasons. READ MORE: How do 'super' El Niño events affect the Australian snow season? The good news is that day-to-day weather systems can often defy the broad-scale influences of climate drivers, so there remains realistic hope for snowy systems to follow this weekend’s top-up. Please check the Weatherzone snow page for the latest forecasts, live cam images and more.