Communities around the Mackay region of Queensland will benefit from more reliable and up-to-date weather information thanks to the completion of a significant radar upgrade. Radar images are now live on the Bureau of Meteorology's website and the BOM Weather app.
Work to reinstate Mackay radar has been fast tracked due to current weather in the region.
The Mackay radar is still undergoing standard testing and data quality assessment. During this time, the radar may be subject to intermittent outages or image quality issues.
Tropical Cyclone Jasper remains as a category 1 system. It may weaken slightly further today, Monday 11 December, as it tracks in a general westwards direction.
Jasper is forecast to re-intensify during Tuesday as it approaches the Queensland coast.
The public are encouraged to stay up to date with any changes to Tropical Cyclone Jasper er via the Bureau's 7 Day Tropical Cyclone Forecast tool via our website Tropical Cyclone 7 Day forecast (bom.gov.au).
The Mackay weather radar has been offline for 6 months while a new dual-polarised Doppler radar was installed. The new technology will provide better image resolution, better visibility of weather systems and less image interference.
It will improve the image resolution between rain and hail, and it will show higher quality images during intense rain and storms. The upgraded radar will benefit communities, emergency services and local industry across the region.
Radars are one of the many tools the Bureau uses to track the movement of tropical cyclones, which then feeds into our tropical cyclone track maps and warnings.
Improving our radar technology and capability in tropical areas helps us to keep the public more informed in times of severe weather, including tropical cyclones.
While radars are an important part of the Bureau's observations network, and the Bureau understands the value the community places on them, they are one part of a composite observing network, which includes radars, satellites, lightning detection, and upper air and surface observations. Bureau forecasters draw on all of these sources, in addition to predictions from advanced computer models, to monitor and predict weather.
Radars are part of a comprehensive weather observation network of more than 11,000 assets including satellites, upper atmosphere monitoring, automatic weather stations, ocean buoys and flood warning networks. Mackay radar data feeds into the Bureau's models and forecasts which enable:
- communities and industry to make better decisions when preparing for severe weather
- farming businesses to make timely decisions, such as movement of stock, chemical and fertiliser application, sowing and harvesting
- increases forecast accuracy every year.
In 2023 the Bureau of Meteorology is undertaking significant work to improve Queensland radar infrastructure. This includes the replacement radar in Mackay and the recently upgraded radar in Cairns.
These projects are part of the Bureau's ongoing work to enhance and improve the Australian radar and observation network.
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