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Site news 2003

Tuesday 30 December
Format change for Quick Weather
The familiar blue Quick Weather box on AWN's home page has been replaced with a Quick Menu button, located in the top left corner of most AWN pages. All of the old links are located in this compact menu system that appears when you roll your mouse over the button.

The purpose of the change is to reduce site navigation clutter and improve accessibility. More of the screen is now available to display AWN's screen-hungry collection of real time charts and data. As further updates are made the cascading menus will allow single-click movement between areas. If you're one of the 0.5% of AWN users still using a pre-version 4 IE browser, or a pre-version 3.76 Netscape browser, or if you have JavaScript turned off, the menu won't work for you. The links will also be available on the green (non-JavaScript) menu buttons soon. In the meantime, if the new button doesn't work for you, the old access menu is here. If you're having problems with a version 4 browser or later (and you have JavaScript turned on), please let me know.

Friday 5 December
New & updated links

Wednesday 3 December
New products and layout for AWN Rain & Flood pages
The AWN Rain & Flooding pages have had a face lift, and are now the quickest, easiest access to real time rainfall information on the Web. It only takes 3 or 4 clicks from the link in Quick Weather to access any of the huge range of maps and data tables available from the Bureau of Meteorology's National Flood Warning Rainfall and River Information System. This system is on a par with radar in allowing the identification and quantification of rainfall in real time, yet is surprisingly little known or used.

WA now joins NSW, QLD, SA and the NT in having clickable maps and also now has full data tables, while there have been further improvements to the river basin maps and flood background information provided by the QLD state office which pioneered this excellent system.

Unfortunately, the Bureau's state-based approach to product development means there are still some glaring inconsistencies between the details available from state to state. VIC, TAS and rural SA have yet to get district maps, TAS, rural SA and the city of Melbourne do not yet have rain tables, and none of the states has developed the detailed and usable interpretative information that distinguishes the QLD pages.

While the primary purpose of the system is related to flooding, the rainfall information it provides has much greater use. The maps make it easy to see rainfall distribution, nationally, statewide or locally, for the previous 24 hour period, for the period since 9am and for the past hour. They are also clickable -- click the station dot and a window tells you the exact rainfall amount and duration (alternatively, in most browsers you can just rest your mouse on the dot and the information will appear in your browser status bar).

An additional advantage of this system is that it merges the readings from over 2000 Bureau gauges with another 1300 operated by various state agencies such as the Sydney Water Board, giving even more comprehensive information than is available in the Bureau's standard 24-hour bulletins. One downside, however, is that the telemetered raingauges that provide most of the data are prone to malfunction, showing up as regular identical totals hour after hour or the occasional spectacular rain event when the satellite image shows not a cloud in the sky.

The 24-hour rainfall tables make it easy to see rainfall data for the past week. The 3-hourly tables give data for each 3 hours for the past 24 hours, and hourly tables show rainfall for each of the past 8 hours, making it easier to pick rainfall patterns and especially to identify heavy falls.

Because heavy rain and road closures seem to go together, I've added links to traffic reports for each state (except Tasmania, which doesn't seem to have them yet -- perhaps because the fortunate Taswegians don't yet have traffic).

Wednesday 26 November
Digital Atmosphere page

  • Updated description of data to cover new rainfall reporting times.

Friday 21 November
Link updates

Wednesday 5 November
New link

  • Added to Current Weather Reports: Agricultural data (Evaporation, sunshine, wind run, soil temperatures) for NSW (BoM)

Wednesday 29 October
Link updates

  • Amended in Past Weather & Climate > Climate Data: Climate data available from the Bureau of Meteorology. This page allows you to select a meteorological element (e.g. rainfall, maximum temperature) and a state, and find the stations and the years for which this data is available from the National Climate Centre. Those that prefer ftp lists should use this overview and this ftp directory (29/10/03)

Friday 24 October
Is WxMap now the best site in the world for forecast charts?
The US Fleet Numerical Meteorology and Oceanography Center (FNMOC) released its version 2 forecast chart site on Wednesday.

Like the earlier site, this latest iincarnation, and its customisable team-mate MyWxmap, allows users to display a huge range of meteorological forecast and analysis charts quickly and easily. The new version, however, features some major improvements:

* Display of multiple atmospheric models on the same geographical area, including NOGAPS, GFS and MM5, with the potential for adding others later. MM5, the US Mesoscale Model, is new for Australia.

* Four times a day NOGAPS model run, compared to the previous twice daily.

* Display of Half-Degree NOGAPS charts.

* Forecast charts displayable at three-hour forecast intervals where available

* Denser windbarb coverage on most chart displays.

* Ability to customize displays for individual user using browser settings (e.g., font size, screen layout).

* Drop-down menus for geographical areas, model run date/time, model type, and chart list, thereby maximizing screen real estate for chart display (less scrolling).

* Matrix showing chart availability using red and green boxes is now available for each of the available models.

* New charts showing various wave and ducting forecasts.

* More intuitive tool for selecting new geographical areas.

* Ability to display charts from past model runs immediately upon building a new geographical area, and to bookmark charts for later return.

* Significant architectural improvements to simplify software and user account maintenance, and to improve reliability.

The WxMap public charts are for fixed areas. But if you register (free), you can set up your own areas including small-scale areas which work particularly well with the new MM5 Mesoscale Model.

This site sets a whole new level for ease of interaction with huge amounts of information. Click this link to visit it, then click Public Charts if you don't want to set up an account, or Get a new account if you do.

Friday 24 October
Link updates

  • Added to Current Weather > Radar and Lightning: Current lightning detection map of Australia from LFEM (24/10/03)
  • Added to Forecasts & Models > US Models: GFS, NOGAPS and MM5 model charts from the US Navy MyWxMap site. This is currently the most comprehensive set of US model charts for Australia on the Web, wrapped up in a highly functional, intuitive and elegant interface. Forecast charts are available for dozens of parameters out to 7 days in increments as little as 3 hours. GFS 2.5 degree resolution charts are available out to 10 days. You can get public charts or set up a free account to get more detailed charts. In the public charts area, click on the map of Australia, then use the settings across the top of the screen to select forecast time, model, model run and chart. Light green indicates charts are available, pink that they are not. If you set up an account, the interface is even slicker, and you can use an extraordinarily easy interface to set up charts for any area on the globe which are then remembered for the next time you visit. (24/10/03)
  • Added to Forecasts & Models > US Models and Aviation Forecasts: MM5 model charts geared to aviation from US Air Force Weather. Forecasts in 3-hour increments out to 48 hours are given for most of the usual parameters, but also for cloud tops, surface and jet stream winds, surface wind chill and heat index, freezing level, precipitation type (including severe thunderstorms), icing and turbulence hazards, and lifted index and totals totals instability indexes. There is also a rather fascinating radar reflectivity forecast, which forecasts what the rainfall radar will look like each 3 hours. There are also a host of very useful charts tucked away under the Wx-Print link. (24/10/03) xr ffa fmu
  • Updated in Forecasts & Models > US Models: NOGAPS and GFS model charts each 12 hours out to 7 days from the US FNMOC (US Navy Met Centre) -- or go directly to the NOGAPS page or the GFS page. This site has a good range of NOGAPS charts, and a functional set of GFS charts. There is a 3 day archive (click on the date groups at the top of the page) that allows you to compare successive model runs, or access previous analyses. (24/10/03)

Thursday 23 October
Link updates

  • Quick Weather: Updated links to sun/moon rise/set, moon phases.

Thursday 9 October
AWN links pages get a spring clean -- and a new link rating system.

The AWN links pages are getting a much-needed revamp. Because my time has been directed to providing realtime weather information and charts recently, the links pages have become out of date and many new links I've collected haven't been listed.

I'm now gradually working through the pages and updating them, as well as introducing a new links rating system that helps less seasoned users to find their way around.

New and amended sites will be listed here and on the What's New page as the work continues.

Thursday 25 September
NSW bushfire website updated
The NSW Rural Fire Service website has been updated and is well prepared to communicate current information with the upcoming fire season. Click on news for major fire updates and media releases. There's also an excellent clickable map giving fire danger ratings.

Saturday 20 September
AWN news pages enhanced
The AWN news pages, which include the daily summary of weather extremes, have two new features:

  • They are now generated automatically around 6pm daily, and updated with late and more detailed data around 2.30pm the next day.
  • Each days page links to the day's noteworthy weather observations, together with full sets of observations for capital and regional cities and alpine centres. There are also links to the Bureau's rainfall bulletins and weather notes for those days. These observational archives will remain available, and be extended back in time as previous AWN news archive pages are upgraded.

Saturday 09 August
Added link
All news indexes: BoM Severe Weather Summaries

Friday 01 August
Updated link
Useful links page: Rosie Weather: Steve Rosie's New Zealand weather links (01/08/03)

Wednesday 23 July
Forecast charts now in the Quick Weather box
The popular AWN Weatherwalls can now be accessed directly from the Quick Weather box. They show a range of charts useful for forecasting rain, snow, storms, heatwaves, and the weather in general, and give tips in their interpretation.

Friday 18 July
Additions to links
Added links to National Meteorological Service charts in the International Charts section of the AWN charts page

Sunday 13 July
New severe & noteworthy weather observation archive
There is now a more extensive archive of the severe & noteworthy weather observations daily reports. Go to the synoptic archives page, and click on full archive under the National Severe Weather heading. This leads to a directory listing of bulletin dates.

Thursday 3 July
New pages for Alpine Weather and Regional Cities Observations
The 3-hourly full reports link in Quick Weather now has a dedicated section for alpine weather reports. It gives frequently-updated complete observations received from all ski resort automatic and manual Bureau stations for each day, and there's a one-week archive.

The regional cities page has also been revamped, with a better distribution of major centres.

Thursday 26 June
Tasman Sea synoptic chart now available

The Chart of New Zealand on the charts page has been expanded to cover the Tasman Sea.

Friday 23 May
Max and Min temps added to AWN charts

The 3-hourly charts on the AWN charts page now carry maximum and minimum temperature information. The overnight minimum temperature replaces the high cloud symbol at the top of each station plot on the 9am chart. The day's maximum to 3pm replaces the high cloud symbol on the 3pm chart.

Thursday 22 May
New weather chart features

There have been changes and additions on the weather charts page.

  • All Australian charts have been redesigned with easier to use location names, and image sizes that now conveniently fill an A4 page when printed.
  • International charts are now available in two flavours. There are still the huge continental-size charts for Africa, Europe, Asia, North and South America, Australasia and Antarctica, but they are now coloured to show altitude (as above).
  • In addition, there is a range of more detailed charts scaled for printing on A4 pages. These charts show location names in blue, and the maximum and minimum temperature figures have been moved to the top of each station plot to make room for them (see the chart guide for details).
  • New charts cover New Zealand, east and west Asia, east and west North America, northwest Europe, and Mediterranean Europe.
  • The international charts now include drifting meteorological buoy reports. Buoy and ship reports will soon appear on the Australian charts, too. These significantly expand the range of observations available over ocean areas and, in particular, the Southern Ocean underneath Australia. It is worth watching the pressure plummet between observations at some of these buoys as deep Lows approach; the drops can be quite ear-popping.
  • I am also now feeding global aviation metar reports into the system, giving considerable improvements in the USA maps, and a few more observations in data-sparse South America and Africa.
  • Please note that the links will gradually populate with new or upgraded charts over the next 24 hours.

Sunday 11 May
Bathurst & NSW Central Tablelands Snow/Road Reports

David C's invaluable snow conditions website for the NSW Central Tablelands is up and running for the 2003 snow season. It's here, and the link has been added to the NSW Central Tablelands Weather Briefing in the Quick Weather box.

Thursday 8 May
New upper air and mega-continental weather charts

Two new sets of charts are now available on the Weather Charts link in the Quick Weather box.

Firstly, there's a set of simple upper air charts. They show upper highs, lows and troughs, temperature, humidity and jet stream winds at 7 levels of the atmosphere. Try clicking open several windows at once and comparing across levels. There's a useful help page to assist you in interpretation. The charts become available twice daily around 10.45am and 10.45pm, with an update for any late data around 1.45am/pm.

Secondly, there's a set of very large (but fairly quick to download) synoptic charts for each continent. If you can read a plotted synoptic chart, you can quickly zero in on weather events anywhere in the globe using the most basic of all meteorological tools. The size of the charts allows you to explore the surface weather in minute detail, with details of rain, temperatures and temp highs and lows, and current weather for thousands of locations all presented in a compact, easy to read form.

In addition to the continental charts, there are higher scale maps of the US and western Europe. New charts become available four times daily around 4.45 am/pm and 10.45am/pm, with updates to catch late data 3 hours later, and there's a 24-hour archive.

Sunday 4 May
Changes improve reliability of AWN weather charts

Changes have been made to the string of programs that produce the AWN weather charts. The charts occasionally produced weird results when data from the Bureau was running late. I've now worked out ways of modifying the programs that create both the AWN data reports and charts so that they wait until relevant data has been received.

Wednesday 30 April
Lost weather stations found

The process of adding station-finder tags to the AWN weather reports is now complete. The daily data for the month and the 3-hourly reports you access via the map all now carry the distance and direction of the station from the nearest reasonably well-known town.

The geographic co-ordinates I've used for the town or city centres are those given by the Geoscience Australia Gazetteer of Australia which indicate the geographic centre of the CBD of each town/city to within a few hundred metres.

Friday 25 April
Where is that rainfall station?

It's nice to know that Quamby Bluff in Tasmania had nearly 250mm in 3 days of soaking rain about a week back, but where on earth is Quamby Bluff? With around 800 climatic stations and nearly 3000 rainfall stations reported in our daily data for the month, it's easy to be geographically challenged.

The AWN tables are progressively being upgraded to give the distance and direction of a station from its nearest well-known town. So, if you go to the current month's data for northern Tasmania, you'll find that the Quamby Bluff rain gauge is 17 km SSE of the Deloraine railway bridge, and you're more likely to know where Deloraine is than Quamby Bluff.

The same information is in the location headers for the daily 3-hourly reports. At present, the information is only available for Tasmania as I develop the system the produces the details (no, I'm not working each one out with a map...), but the remainder of the continent will be covered soon. There will also be some changes as I research which places are well known, and which are known only to the locals.

Tuesday 22 April
New pages give state extremes for the past week

Click the new link under the Where's hot box heading above to access state-by-state extremes for each day in the past week. The top rainfall figures, high and low maximum and minimum temperatures, and the rarely reported grass minimum temperatures are updated four times daily.

Monday 21 April
Updates to the observations pages

  • The Daily Data rainfall lines now show when rainfall totals are for more than one day. A reading of 52.6/2, for example, means that 52.6mm fell over 2 days.
  • Links have been added to the top of the hundreds of AWN observation pages to make it easier to navigate between days and areas, and to find your way back to the main index pages. Note that it will take a week for these to be available on all archive pages.
  • The 3-hourly full reports archive page has been upgraded.

Sunday 20 April
Change to Where's Hot...

Our What's Hot box above now gives the highest and lowest current temperatures in each state rather than for the nation as a whole.

Tuesday 15 April
More new tools for wind and rainfall watchers

I've added links to the wettest and windiest places on the hourly update box above. Click the wettest link, and you get a full list of the current hour's rainfall and all totals since 9am. Click the windiest link for all automatic weather stations currently reporting gusts to strong wind strength or above

Monday 14 April

  • Updated link to thunderday map of Australia in Severe Weather > Thunderstorms: Thunderday map of Australia, BoM (14/04/03)
  • Added hyperlinks from 3-hourly state and noteworthy observations to district grouped observations.

Saturday 12 April
New AWN tools for temperature and rainfall watchers

What was the temperature in your home town last Wednesday? How much rain has there been in our area in the past four weeks? How significant is the heatwave of the past fortnight in Central Australia? Despite all the information available on the Internet, these questions won't find easy answers on the web.

AWN's new tool for tracking rainfall and temperature back to the beginning of last month is designed to fill that gap. Using the same colour-coding systems that make the new 3-hourly weather reports come alive, the Daily Temperature and Rainfall Data pages list fundamental daily data from the Bureau of Meteorology's 2,800 rainfall and 800 temperature stations back to the beginning of last month. The format makes it easy to find warm, cool and wet spells, and to compare rainfall and temperature for any one day across a district, or for any one station across time.

Here's how the Central Australian heatwave is shaping up, with 10 of the past 12 days in Alice Springs more than 4° above average (yellow/orange), and 5 more than 8° above (orange).

To access the pages, click on the Daily data for the month Quick Weather link at the top left on this page. Then use the map to click on your weather district. To get to last month's data, use the link on that page to the previous month's data selection map, or just use the toggle links on each district page, like this:

The Daily Data is updated each day around 6pm.

Tuesday 1 April
New hyper-detailed weather reports on AWN

The district reports gradually fill through the day with all the observations for each of Australia's 99 districts. Use the archive links on each page to go to the previous 7 days' pages. To get to the district reports, use the clickable map on the Full Synoptic Reports page.

There's a new link in the Quick Weather Latest Reports box that leads to new hugely-detailed AWN current weather reports. The Full Synoptic Reports page is a gateway to over 1,200 reports based on some 7,000 highly detailed 3-hourly weather reports sent in by hundreds of observers and automatic weather stations each day. The reports are far more detailed than the hourly automatic weather station reports, giving details of the visual observations made by human observers along with instrumental readings.

Because there is so much information, the new reports make great use of symbols and colour coding, compressing lots of information onto each screen and making it easy to home in on the details of significant weather. I've been keen to preserve the full detail available. Most media and internet providers of weather information need to dumb-down the information, either to make it fit or because they think their readers don't want all the detail. The AWN reports give you everything, and let you decide what you do and don't want.

The reports give you three ways of looking at the data. For each synoptic hour (midnight, 3am, 6am.. etc) there is a report for each state. Secondly, you can click on a map to go to all the reports received so far for the day for each of Australia's 99 weather districts. Finally, there are special reports for noteworthy and severe weather, and capital and regional city observations. There is a complete archive for the past week, so you won't miss any interesting weather when you're away from the computer for a few days.

Full details of the new reports are here. The link to the reports gateway page is in Quick Weather at top left of this page.

As with any new system, there may be some early teething problems and fine tuning. Note that the archives are not yet complete -- they'll gradually fill over the next few days. If you have any feedback or suggestions, I'd welcome them -- just use the feedback button at the top of this page.

Above: Observations of noteworthy or severe weather for the whole country are accumulated onto one special page. Colour highlights the reports of interest.
Below: State reports are available for each synoptic hour. Use the links above the clickable map, or go to the archive page for over 1,200 tables of information that give unprecedented access to our national real-time weather database.