An outbreak of thunderstorms has produced heavy localised rainfall across a large swathe of northern New South Wales and southern Queensland on Wednesday afternoon, with storm activity continuing into the evening.
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Hobart could see two 30°C days this week as a severe heatwave continues to affect parts of southern and eastern Tasmania, although a cold change is on the way.
Persistent and heavy rain will affect parts of Queensland and NSW during at least the next seven days, with some areas possibly in line to receive more than one month’s rain in a matter of days.
The temperature in Melbourne looks set to hit the 30-degree mark for the first time since March, with maximums of 30°C forecast for both this Thursday and Friday.
An unusually slow-moving high pressure system centred over the Tasman Sea will cause a contrasting mix of weather across Australia this week, with heavy rain and thunderstorms in the country’s east and a spring heatwave in parts of the south.
A highly unusual weather anomaly is underway in eastern Australia, with maximum temperatures in Hobart likely to exceed those in Brisbane for a week or longer.
Tropical Cyclone Wati has developed in the South Pacific and is the first of the 2026-27 southern hemisphere cyclone season.
This year, Hobart has decided to skip spring and head straight for summer!
The city is on track to record eight consecutive days above 20°C, which would set a new October record.
A large mass of thunderstorms known as a Mesoscale Convective Complex, or MCC, produced around 400,000 lightning strikes as it passed over parts of WA, SA and the NT between Thursday afternoon and Friday morning.
A surge of warmth is coming to at least three capital cities in southeastern Australia (and nearby regions).
Significant rainfall totals have already been recorded in parts of Queensland which have seen very little rainfall since early autumn, and more wet weather is set to arrive in coming days.
A large pool of exceptionally warm water lying beneath the surface of the tropical Pacific Ocean could push El Niño to record-breaking strength in the coming months.
Parts of Sydney received extremely heavy rainfall overnight with more than 100 mm recorded at a weather station in the city's north, while falls of more than 50 mm were recorded at locations from the northern suburbs of Wollongong up to the Central Coast.