New weather radar in Richmond and improved radar images across North Queensland

A new weather radar in Richmond, in the Flinders catchment of North Queensland, has been installed.

The issue

• From 29 September 2022, the images from the newly installed Richmond weather radar, in the Flinders catchment of North Queensland, are live on the Bureau of Meteorlogy's website and Weather app.
  
   
• Richmond is a dual-polarised Doppler radar - one of the best technologies for observing real-time rainfall and wind conditions across large areas. - The new radar will provide improved coverage across the Diamantina, Cooper, Flinders and parts of the Norman and Gilbert River catchments. It will benefit communities such as Georgetown to the north, Hughenden to the east, Winton to the south and Julia Creek to the west.
  
   
• Radar coverage will now extend along the significant supply route of Flinders Highway, from Mount Isa to Townsville. This new Richmond radar will improve the Bureau's ability to make weather observations in the region and to warn the community about the potential impacts of severe weather as these events unfold.

Purpose

The Bureau of Meteorology is committed to providing an outstanding service to the Queensland community. As part of this commitment, we are pleased to advise that images from the newly installed Richmond weather radar, in the Flinders catchment of North Queensland, are now live on the Bureau of Meteorology's website and BOM Weather app.

The community, emergency services and local industries, such as agriculture, transport and tourism, will benefit from the latest technology radar. The radar will:

• enable industries and businesses to make better decisions when preparing for severe weather
• help farming businesses make timely decisions, such as movement of stock, chemical and fertiliser application, sowing and harvesting
• increase forecast accuracy every year.

The Richmond radar is one 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.

The new Richmond radar is one of four new radars being delivered in Queensland as part of a $77.2 million commitment by the Australian Government. The new Greenvale and Taroom radars are complete and a site near Toowoomba in the Darling Downs region has been confirmed for Queensland's fourth new radar. The existing radar in Moree (New South Wales) will also be relocated to provide increased coverage of southern Queensland.

This project is part of the Bureau's ongoing work to enhance and improve the Australian radar and observation network.

As a key stakeholder of the Bureau of Meteorology, we appreciate any support you can give to advise your colleagues or networks about this important change.