Grafton 256km Radar/Lightning

LocationNSW Agriculture Research Station, Grafton Radar TypeWSR 74 S Band Typical Availability24 hours

The Grafton radar has a very good view in all directions and is the primary weather radar for the North East of NSW. It should provide useful weather information as far west as Glen Innes, south to Kempsey and north to the Gold Coast. There is a tendency to observe areas of false echoes within approximately 100 kilometres of the radar over the sea. These are normally easy to recognise because they are usually the lowest intensity level and randomly scattered with erratic movement from one radar scan to the next. True rain echoes normally have a consistent direction of movement from one scan to the next. Due to its location, this radar is often unable to detect light showers or drizzle beyond a range of 100 kilometres. Although largely removed from the display, anyone to the south west of the radar (50 kilometres or more from Grafton) may find an occasional false echo generated by the mountains in this region. There is a small blind spot within a few kilometres of the radar.

• 16:03 AEDT Tropics awakening, increasing risk of cyclones, heavy rain and storms
• 10:49 AEDT Pre-summer heatwave hitting southeastern Australia
• 13:16 AEDT Heavy rain to soak Queensland's central coast on Thursday
• 11:18 AEDT Storm-producing juggernaut drenching the west