Australian Bureau of Meteorology

The Bureau of Meteorology is Australia’s national weather, climate and water agency. Its expertise and services assist Australians in dealing with the harsh realities of their natural environment, including drought, floods, fires, storms, tsunami and tropical cyclones. Through regular forecasts, warnings, monitoring and advice spanning the Australian region and Antarctic territory, the Bureau provides one of the most fundamental and widely used services of government.

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The sea is blue because of the way water absorbs light, the way particles in the water scatter light, and also because some of the blue light from the sky is reflected. Flickr/Fiona Paton

Curious Kids: is water blue or is it just reflecting off the sky?

Justin Peter, Australian Bureau of Meteorology

Photons stream from the sun and interact with all matter on Earth. Depending on what the light touches, some of the photons will get absorbed or soaked up. And some will bounce back.
Sea ice responds to changes in winds and ocean currents, sometimes with origins thousands of kilometres away. NASA/Nathan Kurtz

Why Antarctica’s sea ice cover is so low (and no, it’s not just about climate change)

Julie Arblaster, Monash University; Gerald A Meehl, National Center for Atmospheric Research , and Guomin Wang, Australian Bureau of Meteorology

Antarctic sea ice cover fell to an all-time low recently and hasn’t yet recovered. Why? The initial answers could lie in an unlikely place – the tropics.
Salida de la Tierra: los astronautas del Apolo 8 capturaron esta espectacular foto de la Tierra elevándose por encima del horizonte lunar mientras emergían desde detrás del lado oscuro de la Luna. NASA

Salida de la Tierra: la foto que cambió el mundo cumple medio siglo

Simon Torok, The University of Melbourne; Colleen Boyle, RMIT University; Jenny Gray, The University of Melbourne; Julie Arblaster, Monash University; Lynette Bettio, Australian Bureau of Meteorology; Rachel Webster, The University of Melbourne, and Ruth Morgan, Monash University

Hace cincuenta años la gente vio nuestro planeta desde el exterior por primera vez.
Earthrise: astronauts aboard Apollo 8 captured this spectacular photo of Earth rising above the lunar horizon as they emerged from behind the dark side of the Moon. Image Credit: NASA

Earthrise, a photo that changed the world

Simon Torok, The University of Melbourne; Colleen Boyle, RMIT University; Jenny Gray, The University of Melbourne; Julie Arblaster, Monash University; Lynette Bettio, Australian Bureau of Meteorology; Rachel Webster, The University of Melbourne, and Ruth Morgan, Monash University

Fifty years ago people saw our planet from the outside for the first time.
Meteorologists use their own experience, which helps them to decide whether the computer’s prediction is likely to be right. AAP Image/Chris Pavlich

Curious Kids: how do people know what the weather will be?

Adam Morgan, Australian Bureau of Meteorology

Twice every day the Bureau of Meteorology sends out the official weather forecasts for towns and cities across Australia. Here’s how we work out what to say in them.
Storm clouds move over the Illawarra south of Sydney on Wednesday, November 28 2018. Sydney received more than a month’s worth of rain in just two hours, with Observatory Hill recording 84.6mm by 7am. The November average is 83.8mm. Dean Lewins/AAP

Sydney storms could be making the Queensland fires worse

Claire Yeo, Australian Bureau of Meteorology

Bushfires across Queensland are fanned by high winds pushed north by a strong low in NSW.
Maximum temperatures for January to September were the warmest on record for the Murray–Darling Basin and New South Wales. DEAN LEWINS/AAP

Australia moves to El Niño alert and the drought is likely to continue

Skie Tobin, Australian Bureau of Meteorology; Catherine Ganter, Australian Bureau of Meteorology, and Robyn Duell, Australian Bureau of Meteorology

After the warmest month on record, it looks like Australia will have an El Niño event – which means the drought is likely to continue.
The Bureau of Meteorology’s tropical cyclone outlook is out today. AAP Image/Bureau of Meteorology, Japan Meteorological Agency

Trust Me, I’m An Expert: Cyclone season approacheth, but this year there’s a twist

Madeleine De Gabriele, The Conversation and Wes Mountain, The Conversation

Cyclone season approacheth, but this year there’s a twist The Conversation, CC BY31.4 MB (download)
Australia must come to terms with some fundamental shifts in our weather patterns. This month, Andrew Watkins from the BOM and climate scientist Joelle Gergis explore what's in store.
Australia’s cyclone season lies ahead. NASA / ESRSU / Seán Doran

Trust Me, I’m An Expert: Australia’s extreme weather

Madeleine De Gabriele, The Conversation and Wes Mountain, The Conversation

October teaser: Australia’s extreme weather The Conversation, CC BY1.5 MB (download)
Are our extremes moving past historical precendent into uncharted territory, or is this life as usual on a changeable continent?
Sometimes air goes up past the condensation level then falls back below the condensation level, then up, then below, again and again. This creates clouds that are stripy, often with lines between the clouds. Robert Lawry/Author provided

Curious Kids: where do clouds come from and why do they have different shapes?

Robert Lawry, Australian Bureau of Meteorology

Clouds formed by rising warm air currents are called ‘convection clouds’. Because of all the rising air coming up, these clouds can be bumpy on top, sometimes looking like cotton wool or cauliflower.
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