Northern Territory's improving weather services

In October 2014, the Bureau of Meteorology upgraded its forecasts and warnings services in the Northern Territory. From November 2014, MetEye™ will be a doorway to maps of temperature, rainfall, winds and weather—all designed to make weather-based decision-making easier across the whole of Australia.

Changes to Forecasts

Regional Northern Territory will now have access to the type of detailed forecasts previously only provided for Darwin and Alice Springs.

96 locations in the Northern Territory will get a 7-day forecast. This includes Darwin and Alice Springs, plus new forecast locations at Palmerston, Tennant Creek, Nhulunbuy, Katherine, Wadeye, Maningrida, Jabiru, Yulara and Wurrumiyanga which will all receive their own 7 day forecast.

National park forecasts: 3 national parks will receive 7 day forecasts. These are Kakadu, Litchfield and Uluru Kata-Tjuta national parks. The 7-day forecasts are presented as a combination of text and graphics and will be available from a new clickable map.

The Darwin and Alice Springs forecast will include a day 1 forecast of the probability of any measurable rain and a forecast of the likely rainfall range.

The Northern Territory forecast will be updated and continue to be provided.

See Brochures for more details and examples of the new forecast formats.

Changes to the Marine Weather services

Improved coastal waters forecasts will provide information on winds, seas and swells out to 4 days including forecasts of thunderstorms, fog and heavy rain. The forecast will have an improved layout for easier reading, particularly for VHF broadcasts.

Marine Wind Warnings for the current day and the next day will now be incorporated in the coastal waters forecast. No separate warning will be issued.

For more information please see the Changes to the Northern Territory's Coastal Waters Forecast.

Improvements for Agricultural Services

The 7-day forecasts will be provided for more rural locations.

Wind speed and wind variations will be described in more detail in km/h, as will temperatures for planning activities such as crop spraying, crop dusting and controlled burning.

In addition, the current day forecast will include fire danger and UV information.

Technical Information for Web Developers

Forecasts and warnings will also be available in a number of formats including XML.

See the Weather Data Services webpage for more information.

Issue times of Northern Territory forecasts

Forecast Name Issue Times State Forecast 5:00am & 4:30pm Coastal Waters Forecasts 4:45am & 4:00pm Darwin Forecast 5:20am & 4:20pm Kakadu, Litchfield and Uluru Kata-Tjuta Forecasts 5:20am & 4:20pm Town Forecast 5:30am & 4:30pm

Note that, if required, forecasts are updated between the standard issue times.