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Tropical Cyclone Narelle is intensifying over the north Coral Sea. Low pressure & broad scale instability stretching from the NT to southeast Aust will generate showers/rain & storms with heavier falls across the central interior. Onshore winds bring some showers to coastal Qld.
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17 Mar 2026, 11:23PM UTC
Sydney storms cause flash flooding, more rain to come
Severe thunderstorms caused intense rain and flash flooding in parts of Sydney on Wednesday morning, with more rain and storms on the way in the coming days. A relatively weak southerly change moving along the central NSW coastline on Tuesday night into Wednesday morning, combined with a mid-level trough, caused heavy showers and thunderstorms to spread through parts of Sydney, the Illawarra and the Central Coast. The heaviest rain fell over Sydney’s Lower North Shore and Eastern Suburbs and on the Central Coast. Mosman received 95 mm in one hour early on Wednesday morning, and 130 mm between midnight and 9 am on Wednesday. Other notable rainfall rates on Wednesday morning included: 64 mm in 60 minutes at Pearl Beach 41 mm in 30 minutes at Rose Bay and Allambie 44 mm in 30 minutes at Cora Creek, Norah Head and Little Bay Rain rates above 10 mm in 10 minutes are typically enough to cause flash flooding in Sydney. Unsurprisingly, there were reports of flash flooding around Bondi and Rose Bay in response to Wednesday’s early morning downpours. Image: Composite radar and satellite images showing heavy showers and thunderstorms over central eastern NSW on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning. Source: Weatherzone. More rain to come Onshore winds combining with low pressure troughs will continue to cause showers and thunderstorms over NSW each day during the remainder of this week. This wet and stormy weather is likely to affect Sydney and surrounding areas, with potential for further severe thunderstorm activity. Severe storms are also likely to affect other areas of NSW this week as a broad inland trough interacts with the moisture-laden air feeding in from the Tasman Sea. The map below shows how much rain is predicted to fall between Wednesday and Friday. Image: Forecast accumulated rain during the 72 hours ending at 11pm AEST on Friday, March 20, 2026. Source: Weatherzone. As of 10am AEST on Wednesday, a severe weather warning was in place for heavy rain parts of the Upper Western district in northwest NSW, due to the inland trough. Further severe weather and thunderstorm warnings may be issued in the coming days, so be sure to check the latest warnings in your area.
17 Mar 2026, 4:01AM UTC
Queensland bracing for severe tropical cyclone
A tropical cyclone is likely to hit northern Queensland later this week, with the Bureau of Meteorology predicting a category three severe tropical cyclone to make landfall in the state’s north. Tropical low gaining strength A tropical low is currently gaining strength over the northern Coral Sea. At 10am AEST, this low was located about 890 km to the east northeast of Willis Island, approximately 1,300 km off the Qld coast. Image: Visible satellite image showing the tropical low spinning over the Coral Sea on Tuesday. March 17, 2026. Source: Weatherzone. The low pressure system is expected to move towards the west over the next few days, likely gaining strength as it traverses the warm northern Coral Sea and heads towards Qld. Landfall in Qld possible later this week The Bureau of Meteorology expects the system to become a tropical cyclone by Wednesday and reach category three strength on Thursday or Friday. Based on the Bureau’s current forecast track, this system could approach the eastern side of the Cape York Peninsula as a category three severe tropical cyclone on Thursday or Friday. Some forecast guidance even suggests this system could make landfall as a category four tropical cyclone. If this system does make landfall as a severe tropical cyclone, it would be capable of causing: Destructive winds with sustained wind speeds possibly reaching 140 to 160 km/h Heavy rainfall causing flash flooding Large waves and abnormally high tides that could cause flooding in low-lying coastal areas Northern Territory next in line After crossing the Cape York Peninsula and briefly weakening later this week, computer models suggest the system could reintensify over the warm Gulf of Carpentaria and make a second landfall over the eastern Top End in the Northern Territory over the weekend. It’s too early to know with much confidence where the system will move beyond the weekend. However, some models predict that it will weaken while tracking over the Top End and Kimberley early next week before passing to the north of Western Australia and regaining strength in the middle of next week. If this happens, it may also cause tropical cyclone impacts in parts of northern WA next week. This system has the potential to cause severe weather in three states this week and next week, so anyone in northern Australia should pay close attention to the latest tropical cyclone advisories and track maps to stay up to date with the most accurate information. If this system does become a tropical cyclone, it will be named Narelle.
17 Mar 2026, 12:09AM UTC
Autumnal equinox almost here – what this means for Australia
The Southern Hemisphere’s autumnal equinox will occur later this week, marking the date when day and night are roughly equal in length across Australia. What is the equinox? There are two equinoxes each year, one in March and another in September. Each equinox marks the moment the Sun appears to be positioned directly above Earth’s equator. This happens because Earth’s axis is tilted neither towards nor away from the Sun at the equinox. At all other times of the year, the Earth’s Southern and Northern Hemispheres are either tilted towards or away from the Sun. Image: Earth’s orientation relative to the Sun on the date of the equinoxes. Source: Weatherzone. Following the equinox in March, the Sun appears to become positioned above the Northern Hemisphere as Earth’s North Pole becomes tilted towards the Sun. By contrast, Earth's South Pole tilts away from the Sun after the March equinox. This year’s March equinox will occur at 2:46 pm UTC on Friday, March 20, which will be Friday night or early Saturday morning in Australia. Almost equal day and night Day and night are nearly equal in length for most places on Earth on the date of the equinox. However, the March equinox day is slightly longer than its night for two main reasons: Sunrise and sunset are defined as the moments the top edge of the Sun reaches Earth’s horizon at the start and end of each day. Because the Sun’s face is a large disc and not a single point, it takes several minutes for the face of the Sun to rise and set. This adds a bit of extra daylight at either end of the day. If sunrise and sunset were defined as the moment when the centre of the Sun reached the horizon, then day and night would be closer to equal length on the date of the March equinox. Earth’s atmosphere bends light. This means sunlight is visible even when the Sun is just below the horizon. For most places on Earth, day and night are closest to equal length a few days after the March equinox, on a date called the equilux. This year’s autumnal equilux will fall between March 23 and 29 for most of Australia. Following the equilux, nights will be longer than days in Australia for around six months, until the next equilux occur in late September. With the March equinox almost upon us, this also means that cooler temperatures and more wintry weather are on the horizon for Australia.