Latest news with #BureauofMeteorology
Sydney Morning Herald
10 hours ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
Brisbane news live: How e-bike battery fires are starting
Latest posts Latest posts 7.21am How e-bike battery fires are starting By E-scooter battery fires have been sparked by people using incorrect chargers supplying too much voltage or overcharging due to being plugged in for too long, Queensland Fire Department state fire investigation unit Inspector Darren Mallouk says. 'But also we're seeing quite a few home DIY modifications occurring,' he said. 'There's also a big second-hand market for these things now … so you don't know the history of the device you're purchasing, and you don't know what abuse that battery has seen.' But state fire safety section Superintendent Mark Halverson said high quality e-bikes and scooters generally had an inbuilt battery management system. 'That's a large problem where the low-quality products don't have that system to cut the charge off when they are fully charged,' he said. Mallouk said most fire issues were with privately bought rather than hired devices. In 2024/25 there were 94 fires due to e-scooter and e-bike battery fires. 7.17am The weather this Wednesday Will it rain in Brisbane today? The Bureau of Meteorology says the chance of precipitation is at 95 per cent, so we'll take that as a recommendation to have your umbrella with you. 7.16am While you were sleeping Here's what's making news further afield this morning: Ozzy Osbourne, the gloomy lead singer of the pioneering band Black Sabbath who became the throaty, growling voice of heavy metal, has died, weeks after his farewell show. He was 76. Closer to home, here's what the average person with $3 million in super looks like. The average wage-earner who would be hit by Labor's superannuation tax changes is an older man pulling in more than $240,000 a year and living in a major city. In her maiden speech to parliament, Ali France, the Labor MP who defeated Peter Dutton, has told of the heartbreaking final days she shared with her 19-year-old son, Henry, before his death last year. Virgin Australia says it is rethinking its policy on passengers taking power packs, used for charging mobile phones, as carry-on items after a fire on a Sydney-to-Hobart flight. The man leading Donald Trump's push to build more ships and submarines is a critic of Australia who has questioned whether Canberra can be trusted to stick with the AUKUS agreement, and whether it is ready to help the US take on China. A Texas father who moved his family to Russia to escape 'woke' America has been sent to the front line in Ukraine. And superstar troubadour Ed Sheeran has announced the dates for next year's Loop Tour, in which he will play a number of stadium shows around the country, including Brisbane. 6.45am The top stories this morning Good morning, and welcome to Brisbane Times' live news coverage for Wednesday, July 23. Today should bring showers, with a top temperature of 22 degrees. In this morning's local headlines: Exactly seven years before the Brisbane 2032 cauldron is lit, the state government is confident it will be able to handle an expected Games-inspired spike in sports participation. Also on the Olympics, the Brisbane 2032 Olympics will deliver a 20-year $70.7 billion windfall to Australia, Deloitte has claimed – but only if the Games act as a catalyst for economic reform. Home-school parents have had their calls for a system overhaul answered after the state accepted all eight recommendations of an independent report into the sector. In sport, after helping the Maroons to a stunning series win, 32-year-old Kurt Mann is on track to realise another childhood dream, by becoming the oldest player to debut for the Kangaroos.
The Age
11 hours ago
- The Age
Brisbane news live: How e-bike battery fires are starting
Latest posts Latest posts 7.21am How e-bike battery fires are starting By E-scooter battery fires have been sparked by people using incorrect chargers supplying too much voltage or overcharging due to being plugged in for too long, Queensland Fire Department state fire investigation unit Inspector Darren Mallouk says. Loading 'But also we're seeing quite a few home DIY modifications occurring,' he said. 'There's also a big second-hand market for these things now … so you don't know the history of the device you're purchasing, and you don't know what abuse that battery has seen.' But state fire safety section Superintendent Mark Halverson said high quality e-bikes and scooters generally had an inbuilt battery management system. 'That's a large problem where the low-quality products don't have that system to cut the charge off when they are fully charged,' he said. Mallouk said most fire issues were with privately bought rather than hired devices. In 2024/25 there were 94 fires due to e-scooter and e-bike battery fires. 7.17am The weather this Wednesday Will it rain in Brisbane today? The Bureau of Meteorology says the chance of precipitation is at 95 per cent, so we'll take that as a recommendation to have your umbrella with you. 7.16am While you were sleeping Here's what's making news further afield this morning: Ozzy Osbourne, the gloomy lead singer of the pioneering band Black Sabbath who became the throaty, growling voice of heavy metal, has died, weeks after his farewell show. He was 76. Closer to home, here's what the average person with $3 million in super looks like. The average wage-earner who would be hit by Labor's superannuation tax changes is an older man pulling in more than $240,000 a year and living in a major city. In her maiden speech to parliament, Ali France, the Labor MP who defeated Peter Dutton, has told of the heartbreaking final days she shared with her 19-year-old son, Henry, before his death last year. Virgin Australia says it is rethinking its policy on passengers taking power packs, used for charging mobile phones, as carry-on items after a fire on a Sydney-to-Hobart flight. The man leading Donald Trump's push to build more ships and submarines is a critic of Australia who has questioned whether Canberra can be trusted to stick with the AUKUS agreement, and whether it is ready to help the US take on China. A Texas father who moved his family to Russia to escape 'woke' America has been sent to the front line in Ukraine. And superstar troubadour Ed Sheeran has announced the dates for next year's Loop Tour, in which he will play a number of stadium shows around the country, including Brisbane. 6.45am The top stories this morning Good morning, and welcome to Brisbane Times' live news coverage for Wednesday, July 23. Today should bring showers, with a top temperature of 22 degrees. In this morning's local headlines: Exactly seven years before the Brisbane 2032 cauldron is lit, the state government is confident it will be able to handle an expected Games-inspired spike in sports participation. Also on the Olympics, the Brisbane 2032 Olympics will deliver a 20-year $70.7 billion windfall to Australia, Deloitte has claimed – but only if the Games act as a catalyst for economic reform. Home-school parents have had their calls for a system overhaul answered after the state accepted all eight recommendations of an independent report into the sector. In sport, after helping the Maroons to a stunning series win, 32-year-old Kurt Mann is on track to realise another childhood dream, by becoming the oldest player to debut for the Kangaroos.
Sky News AU
13 hours ago
- Climate
- Sky News AU
Massive rain front likely to spark multi-state severe weather warnings as low up to 3,500km in length hits NSW, Victoria, Queensland, NT this week
A cold front stretching thousands of kilometres in length is set to roll across Australia this week, bringing much-needed relief for the nation's drought-stricken farmers. The front is one of three rainmaking systems set to sweep the entire country from west to east by the end of this week. Some areas could effectively double their year-to-date rainfall between Monday and Sunday during what is expected to be the best rainfall event of the 2025 winter season. Friday is the big day for southern Australia with 10-30mm likely for most of SA, north-west Victoria and western NSW. Picture: Sky News Australia By Saturday, the weather system will extend some 3500km in length. Picture: Sky News Australia It's a welcome forecast for southern growing regions, well into the third year of drought after a record-low 24 months of rain. Back-to-back years of drought in the south Since mid-2023 a lack of cool season rain events has caused rainfall deficiencies to grow and grow in many of our key farming regions – especially Western Australia's Wheatbelt, South Australia's Agricultural regions, south-western Victoria and northern Tasmania. For southeast SA in particular, the situation has been grim as the landscape turns into a dustbowl, with the region entering its third year of drought, capped off by the driest January to May period on record. Southern Australia has suffered through severe drought conditions in recent years. Picture: Bureau of Meteorology This has significantly reduced the ability of the land to sustain growth – even when the rain has arrived, as the soil moisture at the root zone dries out. The lack of rain, especially during the key cool season from April to October, is attributed to weather patterns being dominated by high pressure. Simply put, if high pressure sits too far south in winter, it acts like a bouncer of sorts, stopping the passage of rain-bringing cold fronts. This promotes sustained warmer and drier conditions than usual, limiting rain to kick start to autumn cropping season in many areas. Low Cool Season rain linked to Climate Change This is part of a recognised trend in Australia's climate in the last several decades. The CSRIO noted in the State of the Climate 2024 that, while Australia's rainfall is highly variable across seasons, the long-term trend has been an increased number of highs lingering over southern parts of the country. This has been determined to be a direct result of a warmer climate. This in turn has seen a pronounced long-term trend 'towards drier conditions across the south-west and south-east of Australia, with more frequent periods of below-average rainfall, especially for the cool season months from April to October'. In a nutshell, climate change is reducing our cool season rain in many of our key food bowls. Rainfall in southern Australia has reduced in recent decades, according to CSIRO data. Picture: Sky News Australia More rain needed in winter 2025 Back to this season. Thankfully, there has been a change in recent weeks with cold fronts finally cracking through the barricades of high pressure, delivering close to average rainfall in June in far southern WA, southern SA and above average rain in western Victoria. While welcome, it's but a small step toward long-term drought breaking rain. We need more rain events over a sustained period to break the drought. Rainfall since April 1 has been lower than average in key southern farming regions, and the Murray-Darling Basin. Picture: Sky News Australia Weather patterns shifting to favour rain This week, a clash of Antarctic vs tropical weather systems will finally bring a big shift in our weather patterns, and it's already delivering the rain. From Monday to Tuesday, the first cold front of the week crossed WA, SA and the eastern states with gusty winds, cold temperatures and welcome rain; but it was a mere entrée to the main that is set to arrive on our western coastline on Wednesday morning. The next cold front is not alone – it's going to link up with moisture laden air feeing inland from the tropics – and the mix of cold air in the south, and humid air further north is set to deliver the season's best rain so far. It all kicks off on Wednesday morning in the west, with the front hitting the coast with heavy falls with thunderstorms. By Thursday, the front and associated low pressure system will bring light rain across WA and into SA. Friday is the big day for southern Australia with 10-30mm likely for most of SA, north-west Victoria and western NSW. The best news is that the expected precipitation will be widespread soaking rain, rather than "hit or miss" showers. Most areas therefore are likely to benefit from good rainfall totals. Forecast rain for the coming week. Picture: Sky News Australia By Saturday, the weather system will extend some 3500km long as rain and storms spread from the NT into QLD, and rain totals of 10-30mm for the Murray-Darling Basin and across northern VIC. Follow-up rain in cold southerlies will push over southeast SA whilst snowfall increases over the Alps. The Bureau of Meteorology is likely to issue multi-state severe weather warnings for damaging winds as the powerful low rolls over the south-east. Front number three is likely to be weaker, with showers spreading from WA on Sunday to the east cats by Tuesday. From coast to coast, up to 80 per cent of the nation can expect rainfall in the coming week, with the heaviest falls upwards of 25-50mm falling in areas that truly need it. While far from drought-breaking, this event will bring the most significant drought relief of 2025 so far. Alison joined Sky News Australia as a broadcast meteorologist in August 2019 and has previously worked in the oceanography and meteorological fields for the Royal Australian Navy. As well as keeping Australians up to date on-air with the latest forecasts, she also writes for about the key weather stories of the day.
Herald Sun
a day ago
- Climate
- Herald Sun
Ballarat weather: Forecast for tomorrow
Don't miss out on the headlines from Hyperlocal. Followed categories will be added to My News. Tomorrow's forecast is partly cloudy; possible shower; fresh nw/w'ly winds. The highest expected temperature tomorrow is 9, which is two degrees lower than today's max. Today's maximum will be topped on Thursday, but cooler conditions are expected on five of the next six days. The chance of rain tomorrow is 70 per cent. Showers are less likely Thursday when the Bureau of Meteorology forecasts a slim (5 per cent) chance of rain. The UV index is predicted to be 1. While there is a low risk of harm from sun exposure. Experts suggest using eye protection, sunscreen and covering up, especially people with sensitive skin who burn easily. Winds will be north-northwest around 21 km/h in the morning shifting to west around 25 km/h in the afternoon. Details for the next six days: Wednesday, July 23: Partly cloudy. Possible shower. Fresh NW/W'ly winds Min - 3. Max - 9. Thursday, July 24: Mostly sunny. N'ly winds Min - 1. Max - 12. Friday, July 25: Mostly cloudy. Late shower. Fresh NE winds Min - 3. Max - 10. Saturday, July 26: Mostly cloudy. Rain periods. Fresh NE winds Min - 3. Max - 10. Sunday, July 27: Cloudy. Showers. Fresh NW winds Min - 5. Max - 9. Monday, July 28: Mostly cloudy. Showers. Fresh NW winds Min - 4. Max - 10.
Herald Sun
a day ago
- Climate
- Herald Sun
Preston weather: Forecast for tomorrow
Don't miss out on the headlines from Hyperlocal. Followed categories will be added to My News. Tomorrow's forecast is mostly cloudy; showers, mostly later; n/nw winds. The highest expected temperature tomorrow is 13, which is three degrees lower than today's max. Today's maximum is the highest the mercury will climb over the next seven days, according to the forecast. The chance of rain tomorrow is 90 per cent. Showers are less likely Thursday when the Bureau of Meteorology forecasts a slim (5 per cent) chance of rain. The UV index is predicted to be 2. While there is a low risk of harm from sun exposure. Experts suggest using eye protection, sunscreen and covering up, especially people with sensitive skin who burn easily. Winds will be north-northwest around 12 km/h in the morning shifting to west-northwest around 13 km/h in the afternoon. Details for the next six days: Wednesday, July 23: Mostly cloudy. Showers, mostly later. N/NW winds Min - 7. Max - 13. Thursday, July 24: Mostly sunny. NE winds Min - 5. Max - 16. Friday, July 25: Mostly cloudy. NE winds Min - 6. Max - 14. Saturday, July 26: Mostly cloudy. Rain periods. NE winds Min - 7. Max - 14. Sunday, July 27: Cloudy. Showers. NE winds tending NW Min - 8. Max - 14. Monday, July 28: Mostly cloudy. Possible shower. NW winds Min - 7. Max - 14.
