Frequently asked questions
Click or tap a heading to expand the answer.
If your question is not answered here, use the feedback form within the app to submit your comments. If you're having difficulty accessing the app, use our feedback form on this website.
- Operating systems
-
The BOM Weather app is compatible with most smartphones and tablets
using:
- Apple iOS 12 and above
- Android 6 and above.
- Technical issues and app crashes
-
Ensure you have the most recent version of the BOM Weather app.
Many technical issues are resolved by updating to the most recent
release.
To check if there is an update available:- on Android devices, navigate to 'My apps & games'
- on iOS devices, navigate to your app store.
- Widget
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We offer a widget for Android. You can set multiple widgets to your
homescreen. For example, one that moves with your location, and
another for a set location.
For iOS, we are working to deliver a widget.
- Choose a location
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The app needs a location to offer you weather.
If you don't allow location services you need to search for a location using a place name or postcode.
On Android 11, to ensure the widget can update as you move, you'll need to allow location permissions.
- Location not found
- If your location is not found when you use search, let us know using the feedback form within the app.
- Why some locations have more details
-
The weather observations displayed for your location are taken from
the nearest or most appropriate automatic weather station based on
distance and elevation. We do not use data from any portable weather
stations in the app.
The app shows observations from only one weather station. It will not show observations when:- your location is more than 100 km from a weather station
- the data is not collected at the selected weather station. For example, some weather stations do not collect wind, rain or humidity (also used to generate the 'feels like' temperature) observations.
Short forecast text (found below the weather icon) also depends on the location. This text is available for 650 locations, including major regional and metropolitan centres.
We issue 7-day long text forecasts for major towns and cities. For other towns and districts, we issue:- long text forecasts for 4 days
- daily summary forecasts – maximum and minimum temperature, chance of rain and a weather icon – for the rest of the week.
- Are the observations for my location correct?
-
Our network of about 700 automatic weather stations provides near
real-time observations. Weather station information for your location
is at the bottom of the page in the app.
Sometimes your experience – or backyard or community weather station – may not match with what's being reported at the weather station. Some weather phenomena can be very localised. For example, rain often falls in a patchy pattern, so some locations get much more rain than places nearby. Wind speed and direction, and temperature, can also be influenced by local topographic features and elevation.
When using the BOM Weather app, the observations shown are from a single weather station. The station:- is chosen based on a combination of distance, and the range of weather elements measured at the station
- may not be in the same area as the forecast
- may be up to 100 km from your location.
The location of the weather station does not affect the forecast for your location.
- Changing the weather station for your location
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The app selects the weather station that is closest to your location.
You may want to change the location you're viewing to more closely
match the conditions that affect your location – for example,
elevation or wind.
Observations made at weather stations and reported in the app may not accurately reflect the weather you experience at a few locations. This can be due to local landscape features – for example, if your location is at a different elevation to the closest weather station.
- Warnings
- Warnings for your location appear at the top of the screen. Tap on the warning to read the details. Warnings in the app and bom.gov.au are the same, issued and updated simultaneously.
- Warning notifications
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You can get notifications for up to 3 locations. The notifications are available for 7 weather warnings:
- heatwave
- tropical cyclone
- fire weather
- flood
- tsunami
- severe weather
- severe thunderstorm
Once installed and enabled, a notification appears on your device screen when we issue a warning for your selected locations.
To get notifications:
- go to Settings in the main menu at the top right of the app
- select Notifications
- tap or click Select a location, then search for the location - a pop-up at the bottom of the screen shows the app has saved your selection
- use Add location to get notifications for up to 3 locations.
Choose warnings to receive for each of your locations:
- go to Settings in the main menu at the top right of the app
- select Notifications
- select the location
- switch warnings on or off - a pop-up at the bottom of the screen shows the app has saved your selection.
- Change wind units to knots or km/h
- Where the wind value has a dotted line underneath it in the app, you can tap on it to toggle the unit of speed between km/h and knots. This setting will be retained between app sessions so that next time you open the app the value will use your previous unit of measure.
- Different weather information between the app, website, and devices
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The BOM Weather app and bom.gov.au use the same weather
information. This can be delivered by different pathways, so you may
not see the same information at the same time on the app and website.
All information is refreshed when you wake or open the app. On our
websites, refresh the webpage to check you are viewing the latest
weather information.
It's also possible for phones or other devices to show different forecast information on the app, even though they are near each other. This can happen for several reasons, including:- data services – quality of internet connection can affect how quickly updates are delivered to each device
- settings – you may have different settings on each device, affecting how your location is detected
- location – forecasts are based on 6 km grids. It's possible for devices to show the same location but read from different grids within that area.
See Why some locations have more details on this page.
- How the BOM Weather app differs to other weather apps
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When you use the BOM Weather app, you're getting information from
Australia's official weather agency.
You can be sure the information is reliable and current – whether you're using our website or the app.
We report on the accuracy of our forecasts and warnings every year in our Annual Report. For details see Our Performance: Bureau Forecast Accuracy.
- Feedback and accessibility
- We encourage our customers to provide feedback that will inform future services. Use the feedback form within the app to provide your comments. We encourage you to tell us what features you need the most, and what you think about the app. If you're having difficulty accessing the app, use our feedback form on this website.
- Download the BOM Weather app
- The BOM Weather app is free to download. For iPhone and iPad, visit the App Store. For Android, visit the Google Play store.