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Understanding the Weather

How do I set my barometer?

Air pressure decreases with altitude, so if you live in an elevated location you will have a lower pressure than places at sea level. The correct local pressure is called Station Level Pressure. It can?t, however, be compared with Mean Sea Level Pressure. The pressures you see on Weatherzone have all been corrected to MSLP. It is therefore most useful if you set your barometer to MSLP. You will then be able to compare your pressure with the weather charts and observations on the website.

To do this, find your current pressure on Your Local Weather Page. If there is no observation for the town in which you live, use the observation for the nearest available station. Set your barometer to the pressure given. You will be able to move the pointer with a screw in the back of the barometer. It is not the pointer at the front that you want to move.

Check your barometer 24 hours later against the observations to ensure that it has remained calibrated. It should only need to be adjusted by a small amount, if at all. Regularly check your barometer against the official readings provided on the website. You should generally do this during periods of stable weather when the pressure is not changing rapidly.

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Signs indicating Australia's cool season arrival

16:15 AEST Mere hours after our Total Lightning Network went quiet over the Australian continent, the Himawari satellite captured a clear, textbook snapshot of the arrival of Australia's cool season.   A few distinguishing features should catch your eye:  A band of cloud streaming over northern WA and towards the nation's interior  A distinct clearing of cloud from most of the NT's Top End, and  A band of cloud crossing to the south of WA   Turns out, all three of these features point to one thing: winter is knocking at the door.  Image: Himawari satellite imagery and mean sea level pressure (ECMWF) over Australia on the morning of Saturday, April 27th, 2024.

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