About 'Latest Weather Observations'

Latest Weather Observations

Weather observations show what weather has occurred. The 'Latest Weather Observations' pages include Automatic Weather Station and manual observations. Reporting schedules vary according to station type. Reports that are more than 75 minutes old are shown in italics and are coloured blue green. Stations that have high frequency reporting schedules include some additional ‘highest’ and ‘lowest’ weather details.

Latest Weather Observations for each state
The state 'Latest Weather Observations' pages list stations that reported within the previous 24 hours. Stations that have high frequency reporting schedules also include ‘highest’ and ‘lowest’ temperature details. Stations are grouped by forecast district. A linked district index has been included near the top of the page to streamline access to relevant stations.

Latest Weather Observations for each capital city area
Capital city pages include reports from stations in the area around the capital city. They include the highest wind gust for stations with high frequency reporting schedules, in addition to the details reported in the state Latest Weather Observation pages. Only stations that reported in the previous 3 hours are listed. The other stations remain listed in the state Latest Weather Observations pages and the station pages also remain accessible via the capital city area clickable maps.

Latest 72 hours weather observations for each station

Each station name is linked to a corresponding latest 72 hours weather observations page. These station observation pages can also be accessed via the clickable weather station maps. The latest 72 hours of weather observations are listed from the most recent report at the top of the page, to the oldest report at the bottom of the page.

Further station observations
The Latest 72 hour station pages also include a link near the top of the page, titled 'Recent months' at that station. The recent observations are monthly summaries of daily weather observations. Some, mostly newer stations, do not have corresponding summary pages. The links for these stations provide a state station index so other relevant stations may be selected.

Station information
The 72 hour pages for each station include some basic station details to help identify the station. Some Bureau pages, including the 'Latest Weather Observations' use shorter, or more publicly recognisable names than the official station names. The 'Station Details', which include the Bureau of Meteorology station number, the official station name and location information, can be useful when you are comparing Bureau pages to ensure you are viewing the relevant station.
Example:

Clickable station maps

The observation station maps indicate the locations of weather observation stations and the corresponding Forecast Districts. Click on the station names to access corresponding latest 72 hours observation pages. Some longer station names have been abbreviated in the maps. Roll your mouse over the station name to see the full name displayed.

Some locations have more than one station. In areas where the names are crowded, only the most frequently reporting station for the location is linked from the map. All stations that have reported in the previous 24 hours are listed in the 'Latest Weather Observations' products.

Click on the Forecast District names in the map legend, or district area numbers on the map, to link to the corresponding district section in the 'Latest Weather Observations' page.

Terms and abbreviations

To save space on the screen, most observation table columns have abbreviated headings.

Example
Note: The 'Latest Weather Observations for Antarctica' includes a slightly different set of information and headers.

Observation data archives and station lists.

The Bureau's Climate section maintains observation data archives, station lists and details.
Climate data and further information | Weather Station directory

Observation data collection

Weather data are obtained from different types of observing stations around Australia, on offshore islands, and in the Antarctic. They include bureau staffed and cooperative observer stations, automatic weather stations, meteorological satellites and drifting ocean buoys, ships and aircraft that collect weather data.

At the majority of locations, Automatic Weather Stations (AWSs) send data frequently. Some provide data every minute, while others report on an hourly basis. The AWSs are designed to provide data for the Bureau's forecasting, warning, and information services, as well as providing data for the Bureau's climate database.

At some locations Bureau observers supplement the temperature, humidity, pressure and wind observations with observations of cloud and other elements such as sea state. These are referred to as 'Visual Observations' in some products. These manual observations are reported less frequently. For most of the day, three hourly instrument readings are made of temperature, air pressure, humidity, rainfall, and wind speed and direction, and visual observations are made of cloud cover and visibility. In addition to the 'surface' observations, at some stations the temperature and humidity of the upper atmosphere are obtained by balloon-borne instruments to an altitude of 25 kilometres.

The Bureau also has a network of more than 400 part-time observers who provide further surface observations.

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