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A front & unstable airmass is producing rain & thunderstorms from the northern NT, across central & eastern areas of Qld & NSW & through eastern Vic. A deep low west of Tas is bringing showers to that state & gusty showers over southern SA and western Vic.
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Today, 6:25AM UTC
Hottest October on record in Queensland, Northern Territory
Australia has registered its third-warmest October since national records were first kept in 1901, with Queensland and the Northern Territory recording their hottest Octobers on record. Seven of the eight Australian states and territories recorded average statewide temperatures that were at least two degrees above the long-term monthly average in October 2025, while Tasmania was an outlier at almost half a degree below average. We’ll break down why Tasmania was the only state which was much cooler than usual in October 2025 while the mainland was significantly warmer than average. But first, here are the raw statistics. AUSTRALIA AS A WHOLE: +2.51°C above average (the third warmest October) Queensland: +3.29°C (warmest on record, previous high anomaly 2.77°C in 2024) Northern Territory: +2.82°C (warmest on record, previous high anomaly +2.50 in 1988) New South Wales (including ACT): +2.61°C (3rd-warmest on record) South Australia: +2.43°C (5th-warmest on record) Western Australia: +2.04°C (7th-warmest on record) Victoria: +0.71°C Tasmania: -0.48°C Image: Temerature anomalies across Australia in October 2025, with a clear pattern of warmer-than-average temperatures nationwide with the exception of Tasmania and a relatively small part of WA. Source: BoM. Why was October 2025 so warm everywhere except Tasmania? The overall pattern of warmth across mainland Australia reflects the underlying influence of climate change, but other factors were at play in the contrast between the mainland warmth and the relatively cool weather in Tasmania in October 2025. The sudden stratospheric warming event In late September, Weatherzone meteorologist Ben Domensino noted that a stratospheric warming event above Antarctica had weakened the polar vortex – a large rotating column of cold air surrounded by powerful winds which develops above Earth’s polar regions during the cooler months of the year. “When stratospheric warming causes the tropospheric polar vortex to weaken, we usually see the polar jet stream become wavier and expand towards the equator which allows nodes of cold air to spread away from the polar region into the mid-latitudes," Domensino wrote. Those nodes of cold air took the shape of a series of cold fronts and associated low pressure systems, which coated Tasmania in unseasonable snowfalls. For the first time since March 2025, the Southern Annular Mode (SAM) spent more than a few days in negative territory (cold fronts tend to push northwards towards Australia more often during a negative phase of the SAM). READ MORE: What is the SAM? But while Tasmania shivered, many areas north of Victoria and the far southeast of SA started to bake. Because air naturally flows from high pressure systems towards low pressure systems, heat from Australia’s interior was pushed to the southeast of the continent as the Southern Ocean lows roared their way across Tasmanian waters. This created unseasonably warm conditions on parts of the southeastern mainland, and it's why places like Sydney and Brisbane had their warmest Octobers on record. The mid-October outback hot air pool Another reason for monthly temperatures being well above average on the mainland during October 2025 – and especially in outback parts of Qld, SA, NSW and the NT – was the large pool of extremely hot air which built up over the northwest of WA mid-month, then slowly drifted across the country in a southeasterly direction. This scorching airmass caused the hottest October days on record in Qld and NSW, with October heat records broken at numerous individual weather stations in three states. What about rainfall in October? Rainfall was very close to average in October for Australia as a whole, with nationwide rainfall 2% above the long-term average. There were, however, significant differences between the states, with New South Wales receiving significantly less than its usual October rainfall. Image: Red zones in NSW indicate that it was the driest state by far in October 2025 in terms of its rainfall deficiency. Source: BoM.
Today, 1:28AM UTC
7.7 million lightning pulses over Australia in one week
A barrage of thunderstorms battered large areas of eastern and northern Australia over the past week, producing close to 8 million lightning pulses across the country and more than 4 million over Queensland alone. Weatherzone’s Lightning Detection Network detected around 7.79 million lightning pulses above Australia last week. This lightning was observed over every mainland state and territory and included numerous days of severe thunderstorms. Image: A thunderstorm causing a cloud-to-ground lightning strike near Greenmount, Qld on Sunday, November 2, 2025. Source: @_benjaminfraser / Instagram. The 7.79 million lightning pulses that were detected across Australia last week equates to roughly 10% of the country’s average annual lightning activity. Last week’s thunderstorms were particularly intense over parts of Qld and NSW, where ample instability, moisture and wind shear created an ideal environment for supercells – the most dangerous type of thunderstorm. Image: Lightning near Allora, Qld on Friday, October 31, 2025. Source: @my_australia_downunder / Instagram. Hail measuring 5 to 10cm in diameter hit the ground in Qld on multiple days last week, including 9cm hail at Pratten on Saturday and 8cm hail at Googa Creek on Sunday. Wind gusts also reached 104 km/h at Cloncurry and Dalby during the weekend’s severe storms, while a gust of 137 km/h was also reported in a violent storm at Territory Grape Farm in the NT on Sunday. This was the strongest wind gust on record for Territory Grape Farm, with wind observations dating back to 1987. The map below shows where last week’s lighting occurred over Australia, with the highest lightning densities detected across northern and eastern parts of the country. Image: Lightning detected over Australia between Monday, October 27 and Sunday, November 2, 2025. Late October and early November is typically a stormy time of year for eastern and northern Australia as the key ingredients required for thunderstorm formation – heat, instability and moisture – typically occur in abundance. This week will feature more storms across the country, with severe thunderstorms likely over parts of eastern Australia on Monday, and lightning then becoming prolific across WA by Wednesday. With thunderstorms a regular feature in Australia at this time of year, it’s important to check the latest forecasts in your area when making plans and always keep an eye on severe thunderstorm warnings in your area.
01 Nov 2025, 7:12AM UTC
Lightning, hail and deluges thrashing Qld and NSW
It was forecast, and it eventuated. Violent thunderstorms that have brought everything from giant hail, deluges and wind gusts exceeding 100km/h are continuing throughout southeast Queensland and northeast NSW on Saturday afternoon. Image: A convective cell with developing mammatus. Sunshine Coast, Qld. Source: James Wall, Weatherzone Meteorologist. Multiple severe thunderstorm warnings have been issued by the Bureau of Meteorology for Queensland on Saturday afternoon, dictating the movement several convective cells surrounding the Brisbane area as well as extending through the Darling Downs & Granite Belt district and into the Central Highlands & Coalfields. Some notable observations include: 9cm diameter hailstones at 1:03pm at Pratten A 104km/h wind gust at Dalby at 4:14pm accompanying 10-minute rainfall totals of 11mm to 4:20pm. The wind gust is the highest that Dalby has seen in almost 5 years. A 13-degree temperature drop in the 15 minutes from 3:50pm to 4:05pm just ahead of the storm cell. Earlier in the afternoon, Brisbane received 6mm in the 10 minutes to 3:30pm with a passing storm cell. Image: Extent of thunderstorms (crosses) with 10-minute observed rainfall (numbers) overlaid on Himawari Satellite Imagery at 3:20pm AEST on Saturday, 1st November over the Brisbane area. In New South Wales, a similar warning has been issued, stretching from the Northern Rivers, through the Northern Tablelands and into the northern Hunter area, among others. Some notable observations include: 7cm diameter hail at North Dorrigo at 3:20pm 90mm of rainfall in the hour to 5:00pm at Glenreagh. A 74km/h wind gust at Grafton at 5:45pm accompanying 29mm in the 10 minutes to 5:50pm. The wind gust is the highest Grafton has seen since September 2024. Image: Extent of thunderstorms (crosses) with 10-minute observed rainfall (numbers) overlaid on Himawari Satellite Imagery at 5:50pm AEDT on Saturday, 1st November over the Grafton area. Severe weather in the east is expected to continue during Sunday with the persistence of a surface trough. Be sure to check the latest warnings for upcoming severe weather on our website.