NT - Warruwi weather radar upgrade

The Bureau of Meteorology are advising members of an upgrade to the Warruwi weather radar.

The issue

• The Warruwi weather radar on South Goulburn Island, off the coast of Arnhem Land, is set to undergo a significant upgrade to provide the local community and industry with more reliable and up-to-date weather information.
• From Monday 6 June 2022, subject to any COVID-related delays, upgrades to the Warruwi radar will commence.
• The radar will be offline for approximately 8 weeks for the upgrade; however, the Bureau's warning services and forecasts will continue to be provided through an extensive observation network that includes satellites, automatic weather stations and flood warning networks.
• There will be no impact to the Bureau's forecasts and warnings, which are informed by observations from a range of assets including satellites, upper atmosphere monitoring and automatic weather stations. Up-to-date forecasts and warnings will continue to be published on the Bureau's website bom.gov.au and on the BOM Weather app.

Purpose

The upgrade of Warruwi radar is part of the most significant program of upgrades of Australia's radar and observation network in a generation. By June 2024, the Bureau is delivering 8 new radars, plus upgrades to 46 radars, almost 700 automatic weather stations and 200 flood warning network sites across the country. 

From Monday 6 June 2022, subject to any unforeseen delays, the Bureau will commence installation of a new digital receiver and control system for the Warruwi radar. The work will take approximately 8 weeks to complete. The upgraded radar system will improve the tracking of winds, quality of rainfall images and predictions for severe storms.

The Warruwi radar will need to be offline for this eight-week period for Bureau technicians to complete this work. During that period, the community is encouraged to become familiar with the Bureau's range of alternative sources to find their local weather information: 

 

• The Darwin (Berrimah) and Katherine radars provide some overlapping coverage and can be viewed on the Bureau's website and the BOM Weather app. 
• The Bureau's MetEye service provides publicly accessible images showing temperature, rain and wind information. 
• The community can also access satellite images from the Himawari-8 satellite. These images are also available from the Bureau's website and show cloud cover and any lightning strikes.

The Warruwi 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 upgrade of Warruwi radar is part of the most significant program of upgrades of Australia's radar and observation network in a generation. By June 2024, the Bureau is delivering 8 new radars, plus upgrades to 46 radars, almost 700 automatic weather stations and 200 flood warning network sites across the country. 

 

Relevant documentation