From Bureau of Meteorology
JSON RDF ISO19115-3 XML

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings

Created 07/10/2024

Updated 07/10/2024

JSON RDF ISO19115-3 XML

The Bureau of Meteorology issues Severe Thunderstorm Warnings to alert communities of the threat of severe thunderstorms. A severe thunderstorm is one that produces any of the following:

1) Large hail (2cm in diameter or larger)
2) Giant hail (5cm in diameter or larger)
3) Damaging or destructive wind gusts (generally wind gusts exceeding 90 km/h)
4) Intense rain (rainfall rates that exceed the 2% Annual Exceedance Probability (AEP)) and may cause flash flooding
5) Heavy rain (rainfall rates that exceed the 10% Annual Exceedance Probability (AEP)) and may cause flash flooding
6) Tornadoes

If both phenomena of "Damaging Winds" AND "Destructive Winds" occur, the interpretation is "damaging, locally destructive winds". If both phenomena of "Hail" AND "Giant Hail" occur, the interpretation is "large, possibly giant hailstones". For "Tornadoes", the interpretation is always "tornadoes and destructive winds" regardless of other wind phenomena.

A Severe Thunderstorm Warning is issued when:

1) A severe thunderstorm is reported
2) There is strong evidence of a severe thunderstorm, and it is expected to persist
3) Existing thunderstorms are likely to develop into a severe thunderstorm

Severe thunderstorms can be quite localised and can develop quickly. The exact location of severe thunderstorms can be hard to predict. The warnings are usually issued without much lead-time before the event.

Some severe weather events can be quite complex with thunderstorms occurring during a more widespread severe weather event (e.g. a band of heavy rain or vigorous cold front). In these circumstances Bureau's forecasters determine which warning(s) to issue to best inform the public about the hazards. This is done with consideration of warnings already in place and may involve consultation with local emergency services agencies. Users are advised to always consider all Bureau warnings issued in a severe weather event for their area.

There are two types of Severe Thunderstorm Warnings:

1) Detailed (cell based) - for the densely populated cities and surrounding areas, particularly in the east. They are issued when individual severe thunderstorms are within range of the Bureau's weather-watch radars. They provide more specific information on individual severe thunderstorms. 
2) Broad-based - issued for the entire state or territory affected, these will usually be less detailed. They are issued as an alert to the public, emergency services and other organisations that severe thunderstorms are likely to develop, or extend into, a specified area over the next few hours. They are based on broad areas such as the Bureau's weather forecast districts.

The state warnings have been combined into a national product for Web Map Service and Web Feature Service layers.

Files and APIs

Tags

Additional Info

Field Value
Title Severe Thunderstorm Warnings
Language eng
Licence notspecified
Landing Page https://devweb.dga.links.com.au/data/dataset/21a67930-828c-46cc-acff-84e5eb4121e0
Contact Point
Bureau of Meteorology
mgdu@bom.gov.au
Reference Period 11/06/2024
Geospatial Coverage {"type": "Polygon", "coordinates": [[[112.7025, -43.9371], [153.866, -43.9371], [153.866, -9.1081], [112.7025, -9.1081], [112.7025, -43.9371]]]}
Data Portal data.gov.au

Data Source

This dataset was originally found on data.gov.au "Severe Thunderstorm Warnings". Please visit the source to access the original metadata of the dataset:
https://devweb.dga.links.com.au/data/dataset/severe-thunderstorm-warnings

Original dataset

  • Severe Thunderstorm Warnings

    Bureau of Meteorology

    The Bureau of Meteorology issues Severe Thunderstorm Warnings to alert communities of the threat of severe thunderstorms. A severe thunderstorm is one that produces any of the...

    Dataset updated: 07/10/2024

Dataset copies

No duplicate datasets found.