There are no active warnings for this location.
Weather Maps
Daily Forecast
An unstable airmass is producing showers and a few storms over southeastern WA and western SA. A SW'ly airstream is bringing a few showers to southern Vic and Tas. The odd shower is also occurring in moist E'ly to SE'ly winds across the northern NT and the Qld north coast.
Latest Warnings
AUS
Latest News
Climate Updates
Latest News
Today, 1:51AM UTC
Twin cyclones in the South Pacific: how will they impact Australia and New Zealand?
Two severe tropical cyclones are the dominant features on the weather charts this Tuesday, with both Cyclone Maila (currently near Papua New Guinea) and Cyclone Vaianu (currently near Fiji) set to impact weather in the Australian region. Let’s take a closer look at the two systems and their potential impacts. Cyclone Maila At 10am (AEST) this Tuesday, Cyclone Maila was located in the Solomon Sea, between the Solomon Islands and eastern Papua New Guinea. The relatively slow-moving severe category 3 system is projected to impact the far southeastern tip of PNG by Friday morning. It’s then expected to move towards the Far North Queensland coast by the weekend, potentially making landfall over the weekend or early next week. At this stage, it is not known how strong the cyclone is likely to be if and when it crosses the Australian coastline. Image: Cyclone Maila’s projected track for the next three days. Source: BoM. Why PNG rarely sees cyclones Because of its proximity to the equator, Papua New Guinea sees very few cyclones. The reason cyclones don’t form at the equator is because of the Coriolis Force (the force, caused by the spinning Earth, which makes air, water and projectiles curve). The Coriolis Force is zero at the equator and weak in nearby latitudes, meaning low pressure systems can’t develop sufficient rotation to become cyclones. But Maila formed in waters east of PNG, just far enough south to gain cyclonic strength. The PNG Weather Service named it as it formed in their jurisdiction. Cyclone Vaianu Tropical Cyclone Vaianu formed near Fiji and was named by the Fiji Meteorological Service. It is currently a category 3 severe tropical cyclone and is causing heavy rain and strong winds as it passes west of Fiji and east of Vanuatu, without making landfall in either nation. Vaianu is expected to track south during the week, more or less making a beeline towards the North Island of New Zealand. While it will no longer be a tropical cyclone, it is likely to hit Auckland and nearby areas during the weekend as an "extratropical cyclone", a type of system which can pack as much strength as a category 2 or 3 cyclone in terms of its central pressure and wind speeds. The NZ Met Service currently has no warnings in place for this system, however this is likely to change as the week rolls on. Image: Mean sea level pressure and precipitable water expected for the New Zealand region on Sunday, April 12, 2026, according to the ECMWF model. Source: Weatherzone. How rare are tropical cyclones in the Australian region in April? The Australian tropical cyclone season runs from November 1 to April 30. As the graph below shows, the number of cyclones in the Australian region drops off to an average of 1.4 in April (the light blue line). Image: Historical tropical cyclone activity by month in the Australian region. Source: BoM. Early indications are that one and possibly two more cyclones could form in northern Australian waters this week, most likely off the Northern Territory and Western Australia. We'll keep you posted.
05 Apr 2026, 11:46PM UTC
Severe storms ahead of wintry blast in southeast Australia late this week
A vigorous cold front and associated troughs are set to sweep across southeast Australia late this week, bringing a round of severe thunderstorms before a sharp transition to wintry conditions into the weekend. Ahead of the front, a prefrontal trough will move across southeast Australia on Thursday 9th, helping to spark severe thunderstorms across parts of southern SA, Vic and southern NSW. With strong winds aloft, these storms are likely to produce damaging wind gusts, with a chance of destructive winds in some areas. Independent of thunderstorms, a tightening pressure gradient will bring strong northerly to northwesterly winds, with gusts exceeding 80 km/h over elevated terrain, and reaching 90-100 km/h over the ranges of Vic, alpine regions and parts of Tas. Image: Mean sea level pressure, ECMWF 3-hourly rainfall and GFS thunderstorm forecast for 1pm EST Thursday 9th April 2026. Pre-frontal trough forecast to affect southeast Australia with severe thunderstorms. After the cold front crosses later on Thursday, a much colder airmass will sweep across the southeast on Friday 10th, with a secondary trough and low driving a noticeable shift to wintry conditions into the weekend. Conditions will become increasingly windy, with gusts potentially exceeding 100 km/h across exposed and elevated areas Image: Access-G 10m wind gusts for 10am EST Friday 10th April 2026. As colder air deepens across the region, snow may fall as low as around 600 metres in parts of Tas, while the odd flurry may extend into the Victorian ranges above 1000 metres if the cold air pushes far enough north. Cold air thunderstorms with small hail are also possible, marking a notable early-season wintry outbreak for April across southeast Australia. Image: ECMWF precipitation type for 7am EST Saturday 11th April 2026.
04 Apr 2026, 11:20PM UTC
Tropical Cyclone Maila develops in the Solomon Sea, possible track towards Far North Qld
Australia’s 2025–26 cyclone season has already been an active one. After Severe Tropical Cyclone Narelle hammered three states in March, another system has spun up in the Solomon Sea, with the potential to approach and impact Far North Queensland later this week. Tropical Cyclone Maila is the 11th named tropical cyclone to form in or move into the Australian region this season. It is also the first cyclone named by TCWC Port Moresby since Cyclone Guba in 2007. Current status and intensity BoM’s latest technical bulletin indicates that Maila is a Category 1 tropical cyclone, with 10-minute sustained winds around 45 knots (~85 km/h) and gusts to 65 knots (~120 km/h). At 18:00 UTC on 4 April, the cyclone’s centre was about 810 km east of Port Moresby, and it was moving west-northwest. The environment is favourable for further strengthening, and models indicate the cyclone should reach severe intensity (Category 3) late Sunday or early Monday. Image: Enhanced infrared satellite image showing Tropical Cyclone Maila over the Solomon Sea on Sunday morning. Source: Weatherzone. Forecast BoM’s track map and technical bulletin indicate that steering influences around Maila are balanced, with a ridge to the south and northwesterly flow to the north. As a result, the cyclone is expected to drift slowly over the Solomon Sea for several days. Image: Forecast track map from the Bureau of Meteorology, issued at 04:40 am AEST on Sunday, April 5, 2026. Source: Bureau of Meteorology. Beyond midweek, the steering pattern may change. A strengthening mid-level ridge to the east may steer Maila towards the southwest into the Coral Sea. Model guidance diverges considerably after this point, so confidence in the long-term track is low. Some scenarios suggest the cyclone could approach and impact Far North Queensland late this week into the weekend. Should it cross the Cape York Peninsula, the system could weaken over land and then reintensify in the Gulf of Carpentaria, before impacting the eastern Top End early next week as it moves west. A few models even hint at the system moving westward into waters north of the Kimberley, but confidence in any scenario beyond five days is, at this stage, low. Image: GFS and ECMWF track guidance for Tropical Cyclone Maila showing potential paths towards Australia. Source: TropicalTidbits.com. What it means for Queensland and the NT For now, Maila is a remote cyclone intensifying over the Solomon Sea, with no direct impact expected until late in the week. Residents of Far North Queensland, Cape York and the Gulf of Carpentaria should monitor updates later this week as the steering pattern becomes clearer. If Maila does move southwest towards the Coral Sea and maintain intensity, it could bring heavy rain, damaging winds and flooding to northern communities over the weekend, similar to the impacts seen with Narelle in March. Meanwhile, Northern Territory communities should be aware that a weakened or redeveloped system could bring heavy rainfall to the Top End early next week. It is too early to speculate on any possible impact on Western Australia, but the potential for Maila to travel through three Australian cyclone regions—like Narelle did—cannot be ruled out.