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Queensland's improving weather services

From October 2013, the Bureau of Meteorology is upgrading its forecasts and warnings services in Queensland. A total of 67 locations across Queensland will get weather forecasts for 7-days from early October. The forecasts will be presented as a combination of text and graphics. Regional Queensland will now have access to the type of detailed forecasts previously provided for four of the Southeast Coast district locations.

During 2014, services will expand further to include map based graphical forecasts and the capability to generate a forecast for any location, including the coastal waters zones. The recently-launched MetEye™ will be a doorway to maps of temperature, rainfall, winds and weather all designed to make weather-based decision-making easier. In addition, rainfall information including forecast probabilities of rain and average rainfall amounts will be issued for major centres across Queensland.

Changes to the Public Weather Forecast services

The new Queensland public weather forecast product suite will include:

State forecast: The state forecast will continue to be provided for 4 days plus an outlook for the next 3 days
District forecast: The 4-day district forecast for the 15 districts will contain detailed information on weather, temperature and winds. The wind speeds will be given with actual values in km/h instead of categories as light, moderate, etc, fire danger and UV Alert will be included for the current day.
See more information on changes to District Forecasts.
Metro forecast: 7-day fully worded forecasts will be provided for Brisbane, Sunshine Coast and Gold Coast. In addition, rainfall probability and rainfall amount will also be included for the current day and the next day for Brisbane, Maroochydore and Surfers Paradise. Some of the metropolitan suburbs of Brisbane, Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast will also receive their own 7-day forecast précis.
Town forecast: 7-day fully worded forecasts will be provided for 23 locations across the state twice a day (See forecast issue times below). These locations include Weipa, Charters Towers, Cairns, Townsville, Mackay, Rockhampton, Gladstone, Emerald, Longreach, Mount Isa, Birdsville, Charleville, Roma, Toowoomba, Goondiwindi, Maryborough, Gympie, Hervey Bay, Bundaberg, Brisbane, Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast and Ipswich. Wind speed and wind variations will be described in more detail in km/h along with the maximum and minimum temperature ranges which will be particularly beneficial to the fire authorities for controlled burning and for farming communities for crop spraying, crop dusting, etc.
Précis forecast: An extra 44 locations across the state will receive 7-day précis forecast and a 4-day worded forecast for their regional area. These locations include Thursday Island, Palmerville, Coen, Burketown, Normanton, Kowanyama, Doomadgee, Georgetown, Cooktown, Innisfail, Atherton, Mareeba, Ayr, Ingham, Bowen, Moranbah, Biloela, Winton, Barcaldine, Thargomindah, Cunnamulla, Stanthorpe, Gayndah, Dalby, Kingaroy, St George, Warwick, Beaudesert, Gatton, Redcliffe and Logan Central.

See Brochures for more details and examples of the new forecast formats.

Changes to the Marine Weather services

The number of coastal waters forecast zones will increase from 11 to 14, allowing for more specific forecasts for each of the reduced zones. In addition, a newly created Torres Strait Waters zone will provide services to more island territories in the Torres Strait.
The improved coastal waters forecasts will provide information on seas and swells out to 4 days including forecasts for hazardous marine weather such as thunderstorms, fog and heavy rain. The forecast will have an improved layout for easier reading, particularly for VHF broadcasts
Marine Wind Warnings for the current day and the next day will now be incorporated in the coastal waters forecast which will assist with longer term planning and eliminate the need for a separate product

For more information please see the Changes to Queensland's Coastal Waters Forecast.

Improvements for Agricultural Services

The 7-day forecasts will be provided for more rural locations. This will prepare the communities to plan ahead for damaging weather elements such as frosts, strong winds and extreme temperatures.
Wind speed and wind variations will be described in more detail in km/h along with the maximum and minimum temperature ranges which will be particularly beneficial to the farming communities for planning activities such as crop spraying, crop dusting, controlled burning etc.
In addition, the current day forecast will include fire danger and UV information.

Other Services

Technical Information for Web Developers
Forecasts and warnings will also be available in a number of formats including XML.
See the Weather Data Services webpage for more information.

Issue times of Queensland forecasts

Forecast Name	Issue Times
State Forecast	4:40am & 4:30pm
Coastal Waters Forecasts	4:45am & 3:50pm
District Forecasts	5:00am & 4:15pm
Brisbane, Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast Metropolitan Forecast	4:50am & 4:20pm
Town Forecast	4:55am & 4:30pm