• Weather Services
• Highlights
• Resource Use
• Performance
• Severe Weather Warning Services
• Public Weather Services
• Marine Services
• Aviation Weather Services
• Defence Weather Services
• Special Weather Services

Weather Services encompasses a wide range of forecast, warning and information services to the general public, national and international shipping and aviation, the Department of Defence and other users. It consists of six individual outputs:

• Severe Weather Warning Services;
• Public Weather Services;
• Marine Weather Services;
• Aviation Weather Services;
• Defence Weather Services; and
• Special Weather Services.

In this report Oceanographic Services are reported, along with Marine Weather Services, under the general heading of Marine Services.

Services are provided mainly through the seven Regional Forecasting Centres (RFCs) in the State capital cities and Darwin, and through the National Meteorological and Oceanographic Operations Centre (NMOC) located in Melbourne. All these Centres maintain a 24-hour weather watch every day of the year, issuing forecasts, warnings and other weather information as required.

Many of the Bureau’s offices in rural and remote areas, which function primarily to provide high quality weather observations (surface, upper air and weather watch radar), have an important complementary role in providing current weather information and a range of other services to their local communities. Some 43 such service outlets are distributed across Australia, with an additional two at Australian bases in Antarctica.

A large part of the Bureau’s output of weather services was made available to the Australian community through the mass media (radio, television, newspapers) but services were also accessible via recorded telephone, marine high frequency (HF) radio, facsimile and Internet systems. Weather Services were provided in line with the Bureau of Meteorology’s Service Charter for the Community. A broad range of consultative mechanisms is in place, involving Commonwealth and State Authorities, and major commercial and community user groups, to help ensure that services evolve and are continually improved in accord with user needs.