Using the weather map
You can see the interactive map on:
- the Rain radar and weather maps page
- location pages for cities, towns, states, territories, districts and other places.
When you have selected a favourite town or place, you can add the rain radar for that location to your homepage. Learn more about Favourite locations.
The map is mobile friendly and designed to be easier for all Australians to use. For example:
- keyboard controls for pan and zoom, or use the plus and minus controls on the map to set your preferred range
- improved colour contrast to make labels easier to read.
Depending on the page, you can use selections at the top of the map to display different weather information. For example, rain, wind or temperature.
Customising the map
Select More weather to choose what you want to display on the map. This includes:
- types of weather – rain, wind and more
- geographical features, such as road and rail, or towns and cities.
Rain radar
The rain radar is part of the weather map. You'll automatically see the radar when Rain is selected at the top of the map.
To access more rain settings, select More weather. Under the Past heading, you can select Rain rate (mm/h) or Rain reflectivity (dBZ) to show on the map.
If you select a favourite town or place, you can choose for the rain radar to display on your homepage:
- all the time, or
- only when rain is forecast for that location.
See Favourite locations.
Video: Top tips for using the rain and weather map
You'll find the weather map on the rain radar and weather maps page, located on the main menu.
You'll also find the weather map on location pages for cities, states, districts, and more.
The new map is mobile friendly with simple pan, pinch, zoom and touch controls as well as keyboard and mouse controls. If you want the map to be bigger, you can make it full screen using the icon in the top right of the map.
Use the tabs at the top of the map or the map control button to select what you want to see – rain, wind, temperature or more.
To customise your background map, select more weather. In map settings, you can add features like roads and rivers or choose a photographic map base. You only have to do this once. Next time you come back to the map, it will remember your settings.
Once you've got your background map set, use the buttons to choose the type of weather you want to see, like rain, thunderstorms, waves, and humidity. You can only see one weather type at a time.
When you first select rain, the map automatically displays radar images in dBZ.
In more weather, you can control how the radar displays past rainfall. Choose from rain rate, rain reflectivity, or estimated hourly rain.
Learn more at bom.gov.au/website-help.
Place names on the map
Not all suburbs, towns and cities appear on the radar map. This helps make the map easier to read and access.
We aim to include enough locations so you can identify your location, while making sure the map is easy to read. It also needs to be easy to click or tap a location, including on mobile phones.
If you have searched for your location, the red pin icon highlights the position of this location on the map.
Maps for specific types of weather
Maps in Specialised forecasts and observations display data relevant to the type of weather. For example, heatwave or weather for coasts and oceans.
These maps automatically show all of Australia, as they are not linked to a specific location.