BoM forecasts show system to move from northern WA toward eastern states while alps in south-east could receive more snow
A large cloud band is set to bring unseasonable wet weather to parts of Australia as it moves eastwards across the country this week.
The Bureau of Meteorology’s forecasts suggest a rain band developing over northern Western Australia on Sunday into Monday will move towards the eastern states over the first half of the week.
Continue reading...Canberra records its coldest June morning since 1986 and Sydney its coldest June morning since 2010, with the record-breaking weather forecast to continue
Many Australians woke up on Wednesday to record-breaking cold temperatures as Sydney and Canberra experienced their coldest June mornings in more than a decade.
Canberra’s minimum temperature of -7.2C was its lowest since 2018 and the lowest for June since 1986, according to Ben Domensino, a meteorologist at Weatherzone.
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Continue reading...Sydney’s minimum temperature dropped to 1.8C and Canberra’s to -5.6C as Bureau of Meteorology predicts the cold to linger
South-east Australia is shivering through some of its coldest temperatures in years, with brisk winds pushing the morning chill factor even lower.
Sydney experienced its coldest June morning on record on Monday, with a minimum temperature of 1.8C at Olympic Park, according to Miriam Bradbury, a senior meteorologist at the Bureau of Meteorology.
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Continue reading...Winter has set in and forecasters predict clear frosty nights and chilly icy mornings for south-east
A cold front crossing through south-east Australia is bringing a snow dump and a chilly, wet week after a mild start to winter.
Temperatures won’t rebound to June averages until the end of the week, according to Angus Hines, a senior meteorologist at the Bureau of Meteorology.
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Continue reading...‘Lacklustre’ cover has meant a slow start to the alpine ski season but there is snow on the way, according to forecasts
A lack of snow has meant a bumpy start to Australia’s alpine ski season but forecasters and resorts are hoping expected snowfalls on Sunday will kickstart the season.
The ski season started earlier this month with very little actual skiing, thanks to dry conditions, with snow machines working overtime at resorts in recent days.
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Continue reading...Update warns there is a 70% chance of the climate system developing before the end of this year, raising the risk of heatwaves and bushfires
The Bureau of Meteorology has placed Australia on “El Niño alert”, warning there is now a 70% chance of the climate system developing before the end of this year.
El Niño tends to reduce rainfall and push up daytime temperatures in winter and spring, increasing the risk of bushfires, heatwaves and coral bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef.
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Continue reading...After shivering through an unexpectedly cold May, BoM forecasts higher-than-average daytime temperatures, along with colder nights and less rain
Winter is coming … even though it may not feel like it.
With Thursday marking the first day of winter, much of Australia can look forward to a warmer-than-average season, after a historically cold May for much of the east coast.
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Continue reading...Severe weather warnings for wind gusts of up 100km/h issued for Tasmania, Victoria and NSW, BoM says
A cold front is set to sweep across Australia’s south-east in the coming days, bringing icy winds and steep drops in temperature.
The front is brushing the southern tip of Western Australia and is expected to strengthen and intensify as it approaches south-eastern Australia.
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Continue reading...Typhoon projected to affect US territory of Guam as early as Tuesday. Elsewhere, Europe is heating up
Over the weekend, a rapidly intensifying region of thunderstorms in the western Pacific culminated in the formation of Typhoon Mawar.
The movement of this storm is projected to affect the Mariana Islands, including the US territory of Guam, as early as Tuesday. There is a risk of wind speeds above 75mph, with torrential rain.
Continue reading...Experts warn strong vegetation growth during La Niñas could result in fuel for fires, as up to 90% chance of El Niño predicted
Eastern Australia looks set for a drier winter and spring as a US federal agency predicts an “extremely high likelihood” of an El Niño developing later in the year.
According to the US Climate Prediction Center, a weak El Niño is likely and there is an 80% chance of a moderate El Niño in the next couple of months, with a greater than 90% chance it will persist into our summer.
Continue reading...Freezing weather conditions saw 10-20cm of snow fall in Australian alpine regions as damaging winds caused hazardous surf conditions for much of the NSW coast
Cold and gusty southerly winds across eastern Australia are causing temperatures to plunge, as well as dangerous surf conditions and flight cancellations.
Every state except Western Australia and the Northern Territory experienced a minimum temperature below zero Monday morning, according to Dean Narramore, a senior meteorologist at the Bureau of Meteorology.
Continue reading...Widespread areas of frost and temperatures of near or below zero expected for ranges and further west with BoM forecasting ‘cooler days’
Canberra residents have described Sunday as the “first proper day of winter” after snow and hail fell on parts of the city, as a cold front brought cooler temperatures to parts of south-eastern Australia.
Rain, hail and snow fell across parts of New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, and though temperature lows are not breaking records just yet, Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Gabrielle Woodhause said “we are entering some of the cooler days seen so far this year”.
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Continue reading...Suspended Victorian MP says she remains a ‘proud Liberal’ and past six weeks have taken a ‘terrible toll’. This blog has now closed
Stuart Robert says his time in parliament ‘has not been the smoothest ride’
Stuart Robert, who was a close confidant of the former prime minister Scott Morrison, served as the minister for veterans’ affairs, the minister for the national disability insurance scheme and the minister for government services under the Turnbull and Morrison governments.
I am the first to acknowledge my time in parliament has not been the smoothest ride. Politics is tough. People throw the kitchen sink at you. And promises of a kinder, gentler parliament need to be taken with a grain of salt. We may all aspire to it, but ambition in politics will always win – as Labor stalwart Graham Richardson aptly put it: whatever it takes.
I do hope civility does eventually come to the theatre of politics. But I do fear division has well and truly entrenched itself in the current parliament. A kinder, gentler parliament it is not.
Continue reading...Government hopes prominent notifications will be hard to miss as it plans to begin testing new system soon
People in disaster zones will receive urgent phone alerts with warnings and advice, as the federal government plans to begin testing of a new emergency messaging system for fires, floods and public safety crises.
The new system will give prominent mobile notifications on phone screens that users cannot accidentally overlook, with an official alert from the government which cannot be mistaken for a scam text.
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Marles on Australians caught in Sudan conflict
Asked about Australians caught in Sudan and the conflict there, Richard Marles says “there are still options out of Port Sudan which is on the Red Sea, which is, I think it’s about 800km out of Khartoum” to leave “what is obviously a deteriorating situation”:
There are ferries there and there may be other options coming out of that. I mean, the important thing is this – Australians in Sudan, and there do remain a number of Australians in Sudan, really need to make sure that they register.
We will continue to work with friends and allies and do everything that we can within our power to provide options for Australians who want to leave. Because we understand how difficult this situation is now.
Ultimately, our ambition is to establish a production line with companies in this country which would provide for the manufacture of those long-range strike missiles and doing as much of that as possible in the next couple of years. We hope that we can begin with the assembly of the strike missiles that go in the Himars system. But we want to build on that so that we’re actually manufacturing the full suite of these weapons in Australia.
Continue reading...Scattered showers and storms over the weekend expected to raise rainfall totals with potential for strong winds around Illawarra to Eden coasts
Parts of coastal New South Wales could receive up to 120mm of rain over the weekend with heavy falls expected from late Saturday.
The rainfall comes 10 days after Sydney broke a century-old temperature record, with 184 days of temperatures exceeding 20C.
Continue reading...Makeshift camp of Indonesian crew spotted by a surveillance plane in the Rowley Shoals, about 300km west of Broome
Eleven Indonesian fishers have been rescued from a remote island off Western Australia after their vessel was destroyed by Cyclone Ilsa.
The men were shipwrecked without food and water for six days on a remote island in the Rowley Shoals, about 300km west of Broome.
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Indigenous voice would benefit Alice Springs if people were ‘prepared to be honest’: Price
Price said she wanted the federal government to run the child protection system in the Territory in order to prioritise the “human rights for children regardless of racial heritage, in this country”.
I support the idea of regional and remote legislated bodies that would represent issues going on, on the ground. That’s what I would support. That is what the Coalition supports going forward.
What I have advocated for is I don’t believe in separating us along the lines of race within our constitution. What I have always advocated for is the voices of people in remote and regional communities to be amplified because of the circumstances in those regional/remote communities are very different to other communities.
Someone from somewhere like Balgo, Docker River, Yuendumu, Indigenous voices from there are very different to Indigenous voices from suburban Sydney or Brisbane, or even Alice Springs. And their voices in the bush are often not heard, are not amplified in these discussions, even more so the vulnerable voices in those communities are not heard.
We need to say that children who are living in circumstances where their human rights are being upheld should not be removed for the sake of putting children back with kin.
And I know of circumstances where children have been put in danger because of that provision.
Continue reading...Damaging 90km/h winds forecast for parts of the Simpson district and a flood watch remains in place for the western inland region
Cyclone Ilsa has been downgraded to a tropical low but flash flooding and strong winds were still expected to lash parts of the Northern Territory.
Damaging 90km/h winds were forecast to hit the Tanami and Lasseter districts on Saturday morning before moving to western parts of the Simpson district.
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Kerrynne Liddle says ‘prove it’s not happening’ on child sexual abuse in Alice
Liberal senator Kerrynne Liddle, the first Indigenous senator from South Australia, and a name being touted as a contender for shadow minister for Indigenous Australians after Julian Leeser’s resignation.
I think we have to be really careful about politicising this issue, because matters related to any form of assault are sensitive, but important to understand and respond to.
… I think what’s really important though, is it can’t ignore the issue of sexual abuse, but you must also tackle those issues, alongside other issues which include [service] delivery and decision dysfunction.
Do you encourage your leader to temper his language given we haven’t yet seen evidence to say that there is a widespread phenomenon of this?
I say prove it’s not happening. And then we can have a conversation about the kind of language that we can actually use for this.
… You’ve got you’ve got the statistics, which everyone accepts are underreported and underrepresented. You’ve got to have relationships with communities to enable people to start talking about these safe spaces for young people to raise this issue of need to support people to have housing so that young people and older people are not at risk of this.
It’s possible to be optimistic about Australia’s economic future, and to be realistic about a global slowdown.
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