The Bureau of Meteorology is installing a replacement weather radar in Wyndham. A lightning strike in December 2025 caused a fire that damaged the existing radar beyond repair.
The replacement radar is currently being prepared for its move from Queensland to Western Australia. We expect installation to begin in late September, with radar images available to the community in October, pending testing and severe weather.
The replacement radar will restore weather radar services to the north-east Kimberley and north-west Gregory districts and will be installed at the site of the old radar. It will provide the region with Doppler wind images and dual‑polarisation capability, which were not previously available. Doppler allows the radar to measure wind speed, and dual-polarisation gives extra information to improve image correction.
Progress so far
The radar has already been moved to Gladstone in Queensland from its previous site at Brisbane Airport. The radar is currently undergoing tower and radome engineering works to ensure optimal operations.
Once engineering works are complete, the radar will be transported over 3,000 km by road to Wyndham.
Hugo Austla Drive will be temporarily closed to allow the safe transport of heavy equipment to and from the radar site. We are working with the Shire of Wyndham East Kimberley to minimise the impact on local road users. Please follow the Shire of Wyndham East Kimberley on Facebook for updates.
Once installed, the testing period will begin and take several weeks. During testing radar data quality is monitored to confirm it is accurate and reliable.
Impact on weather services
Weather forecasts and weather warning services will continue to be available.
There will be no radar coverage in the north-east Kimberley and north-west Gregory districts until the replacement Wyndham radar is operating. Halls Creek weather radar provides some coverage south of Wyndham.
Our forecasts and weather warning services have been designed so that they are resilient and not dependent on any one piece of equipment. Forecasts and warnings for all regions are based on a combination of many different observing systems including satellites, automatic weather stations, radars, rain gauges, and hydrological monitoring stations.
