Weather News

Canada's tough canola harvest driving prices up for Aussie farmers

02:54 AEST Australian canola prices have been historically high this year and increased again this week.
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Mosquito management programs spring into action, after Ross River virus case numbers soar

07:35 AEST A health scientist is urging local governments across Western Australia to increase mosquito controls to prevent another surge in cases of Ross River virus.  Last financial year, cases of the mosquito-borne virus soared to 816 from 318 the previous year.
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Australia's farmers bounce back thanks to rain, high prices and bad times overseas

03:12 AEST In case you hadn't heard, Australian farmers are on track for an absolute blinder.
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Bureau of Meteorology says La Niña's an even chance to return for a second consecutive spring

08:12 AEST The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) has moved to a La Niña watch, indicating there is now a 50 per cent chance of the rain-bearing climate driver returning this spring.
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Questions remain over what happened to Gulf Livestock 1 a year on from tragic live export voyage

05:38 AEST It has been 12 months since a live export ship sank off the Japanese coast, but a number of details about the tragedy remain a mystery.
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Burst water main at Mitcham causes sinkhole on Fullarton Road with several homes damaged

13:41 AEST A burst water main has sent a "river of water" gushing down a major Adelaide road, creating a sinkhole and causing major traffic delays.
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Shanghai cancels flights, closes schools as Typhoon Chanthu tracks towards city

06:49 AEST Schools across Shanghai have been closed and flights and public transport suspended as Typhoon Chanthu moves north across the region.
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Farmer devastated by natural disasters feels 'abandoned' after falling through the cracks

22:14 AEST More than 20 months on from a massive bushfire razing fences and pasture on his farm, Gerry Swindale says he feels "abandoned".
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Hume Dam fills for first time since 2016 while downstream farmers are bracing for flooding

05:15 AEST After a string of dry years, the Hume Dam, just outside Albury in NSW, is officially filled with water for the first time in five years.  Last time locals saw the dam this full was in 2016, which saw flooding downstream after Lake Hume spilled.  Murray-Darling Basin Authority's Acting Chief Executive Andrew Reynolds said it had increased the releases to approximately 31,000 ML per day to create some airspace in the dam.  "It's sitting at 98.5 per cent full and without the releases we are doing, it would obviously fill, so it's effectively "Right at the moment, with forecast for wetter conditions over the next couple of months and limited demands downstream, we are trying to draw the storage down a little bit to create some air space so if we do get another large rainfall event, we can capture the peak inflows as it comes in."  "We've got drier conditions forecast for the next week, so we'd like to draw the dam down by a couple of per cent if we can,  but we are equally aware of the impacts that can have downstream, so we're trying to limit flows below minor flood level downstream." Mr Reynolds said the Murray-Darling Basin Authority worked with landowners downstream to ensure they were updated with the latest information.
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Frost freezes bumper crops in West Australian Wheatbelt

05:37 AEST Extensive frost damage in Western Australia's Wheatbelt has dashed some farmers' hopes of one of their best grain harvests on record.  Temperatures dropped below freezing for several hours in grain-growing regions late last week, and damage is already evident in some crops.  WA farmers were expected to harvest a 20 million tonne grain crop this year, the biggest in the state's history.  Michael Lamond is a York-based agronomist and collates the state's monthly crop report.  He said while the worst of the frost damage was in the north and east Merredin region, damage across the state had been widespread, from as far north as Yuna to south of the Great Eastern Highway.  "In area it's large.
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Proposed Tyndall Ranges bushwalk to become unprofitable if not at full capacity, documents show

03:26 AEST The landmark project the Tasmanian government hopes will cement the state as a key bushwalking destination will lose money unless fully occupied for the entire six-month walking season, despite expectations it will be significantly hampered by the region's notorious wet weather, internal documents obtained by the ABC reveal.
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CSIRO, governments and industry put $150m into farm sector research

20:13 AEST Increased exports, drought mitigation and new foods are at the centre of $150 million in research spending by governments and Australia's farming industry.
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Queensland water utility wins appeal against 2011 flood damages ruling

06:42 AEST State-owned dam operator Seqwater has won an appeal against a landmark ruling on the 2011 Queensland floods.
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Severe winds bring down power lines, trees, cut roads, damage property across Tasmania

05:10 AEST Strong winds have brought down power lines and trees across Tasmania, with gusts of 110 kilometres per hour recorded in some parts.
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Gippsland farmers will wait weeks for floodwater to recede

02:39 AEST They've battled droughts and fires in recent years, but some East Gippsland farmers will now have to wait a month until floodwater recedes from their land.
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Scale of Rockhampton hail surprised insurers, homeowners waiting as materials shortage worsens

20:30 AEST It has been 16 months since the worst hailstorm in a decade tore through central Queensland, yet hundreds of homeowners are still waiting for their roofs to be repaired.
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Tonight's top headlines

08:58 AEST Good evening. Here's a wrap of the key news updates from Monday.
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Flood warnings across eastern Victoria after heavy weekend rain

05:23 AEST Flood warnings have been issued across eastern Victoria after heavy rain swept through Gippsland over the weekend, smashing record levels.  Records were broken for Bairnsdale's daily September rainfall with 50 millimetres recorded on both Saturday and Sunday.
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Fire weather forecasts for Darwin, Batchelor, Adelaide River as Top End faces dry, windy days

01:11 AEST Hot, dry and windy conditions are expected around Darwin and the northwest Top End this week, signifying the most dangerous fire weather forecasts this season.
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Australian farmers and scientists trial new methods to improve soil moisture

22:48 AEST Recent rainfall has come as a huge relief for many, but after years of drought baking dry soils, some systems are taking a while to recover.
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Australia records near-record warmth during the wettest winter since 1996

22:50 AEST Australia has just experienced its fourth-hottest winter since 1910, according to the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM).
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NSW Far West grazier donates lambs to farmers who made life-saving hay deliveries during drought

22:29 AEST A grazier in Far West New South Wales who received hay donations from farms in northern Victoria during the drought has decided to return the favour.
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Ozone recovery is offsetting Southern Hemisphere climate change trends in summer

23:36 AEST If the latest climate report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) made anything clear, it was that much more needs to be done to reverse the impacts of climate change.
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COVID-19 has snowfields businesses 'in limbo', hoping for an easing of regional restrictions

23:21 AEST In the face of growing COVID-19 case numbers?  and competing visions of Australia's path forward ? alpine businesses are calling for assurances that the rest of the snow season will be able to go ahead.
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Tasmania's winter this year was the warmest since 1988, BOM records show

22:55 AEST Tasmanians have not had to reach for the ugg boots or puffer jackets as often during the winter just gone, with the BOM confirming it was the warmest for 33 years ? and they are tipping spring to bring above-average temperatures across the state.
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Forecast of heavy rain stirs nerves in landholders downstream of Hume Dam

20:35 AEST Landholders on the Murray River downstream of Hume Dam are starting to get nervous.
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Fourth snowfall of the year in WA brings out early-bird hikers to catch the drift

02:34 AEST For just the sixth time ever, WA has recorded snowfall four or more times in a calendar year.
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Drought leaves Brisbane's Wivenhoe Dam supply low, water restrictions due by Christmas

22:25 AEST Water restrictions could be triggered in south-east Queensland by the end of the year as the region's biggest dam drops close to its lowest level since the last drought that gripped Brisbane and surrounds.
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Hot and gusty spring arrives, but don't pack away the winter woollies yet

14:08 AEST Enjoy the warm temperatures while you can but keep your winter woollies handy because a cold front is on the way.  Wide parts of the country are experiencing above-average temperatures, with the Nullarbor especially hot, registering temperatures 12 to 14 degrees above September averages.  Catastrophic fire danger is forecast for the Eucla for the rest of Wednesday and extreme fire danger for the South Interior fire region.  These warm temperatures are being driven by air drawn down from northern Australia ahead of a cold front.  As the front moves east, severe weather warnings have been issued for South Australia and Victoria on Thursday.  But according to Jackson Browne, from the Bureau of Meteorology, it is a false start to spring.   Hot and gusty conditions are expected ahead of the front but in its wake temperatures are expected to drop.  "On Friday, large areas of south-western WA [will be] 6 to 8 degrees below average," Mr Browne said.   For anyone attending the Red Centre NATS this weekend beware: Alice Spring's maximum temperature is expected to halve from 33 degrees on Thursday to just 16 degrees by Sunday.  "This week's weather is stock-standard spring weather," Mr Browne said.  "We're seeing wild variations of temperatures around the shop."  But not everywhere is enjoying the warm start.  Mr Browne said north Queensland and south-west Western Australia were experiencing wet and cloudy conditions with below-average temperatures.  "Just remember, keep in the back of your mind that spring is a transitional season," he said.
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Spring starts with spike in fire weather across southern Australia

10:57 AEST A burst of warm and windy weather will cause a spike in fire danger ratings across southern Australia during the opening days of spring.
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WA's south breaks winter rainfall records, Perth hits average ahead of dry spring

08:27 AEST Parts of southern Western Australia have recorded their wettest-ever winter, while others topped 20-year records.
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Yallourn coal mine failings should be subject of inquiry, environment groups say

20:40 AEST Environment groups are calling for an independent inquiry into how flood damage at the Yallourn coal mine put Victoria's power supply at risk.
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Drought-stricken Emerald farmers hope for spring rain salvation

20:24 AEST Ongoing drought has caused devastation for farmers across central Queensland for many years, with the Central Highlands region feeling the effects particularly strongly.
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Canada's tough canola harvest driving prices up for Aussie farmers

02:54 AEST Australian canola prices have been historically high this year and increased again this week.