About the climate outlooks
About the outlooks
- The rainfall and temperature climate outlook maps show the percentage chance of experiencing wetter/drier (and warmer/cooler) than median1 weather at different timescales for the upcoming four months. Outlooks are available for weeks, fortnights, months and three-months ahead.
- One- and three-month outlooks are issued each Thursday, while weekly and fortnightly outlooks are issued twice a week on Monday and Thursday.
- For the monthly to seasonal timescales, the outlook issued closest to the end of a calendar month provides the Bureau's best advice on the likely temperature and rainfall patterns for the three months ahead. For example, outlooks issued in the last week of June, for the three months July to September, will generally be more accurate than outlooks issued earlier in June.
- Additional information on the likelihood of rainfall exceeding particular totals is also provided (e.g., the chance of receiving at least 10 mm), as well as the specific chances (e.g., rainfall totals that have a 75% chance being exceeded). These types of outlooks are particularly useful for the weekly to fortnightly timescale.
Details: Rainfall scenarios
- Additional outlook information for temperature is also provided for timescales shorter than one month. 'Difference from average' (anomaly) maps show how far above or below the 1990–2012 average the temperature is likely to be. The values provided are the centre of the likely predicted scenarios—also known as the ensemble mean.
- The climate outlooks are generated from the Australian Community Climate Earth-System Simulator–Seasonal (ACCESS-S), the Bureau's dynamical (physics based) climate model.
Details: Outlook model
- While weather forecasts can tell you what the temperature will be tomorrow and how much rain to expect, climate outlooks cannot be this specific. This is because the further we look ahead, the more small, random changes can amplify into different weather patterns. However, longer-term forecasts of seasonal statistics, such as whether rainfall or temperature will generally be above or below median, are possible to accurately predict. Recent advances in modelling and computing power have allowed us to look at shorter timescales, making possible accurate predictions for sub-monthly timescales.
Details: Past accuracy
- Probability-based outlooks are designed to be used as one of several planning tools within risk management and decision-making. The greatest benefits of using Bureau climate outlooks will accrue from use over a number of seasons or years.
Read our blog: What to expect from the climate when the outlooks are neutral
- 1 Median is a measure of what is considered typical rainfall or temperature for a specific location; similar to mean. The median is the value that lies in the middle of a set of past values when they are ranked from lowest to highest. Due to the high variability of rainfall, and that in some locations just one or two extremely wet years can substantially change the overall average, using the median is the best representation of typical rainfall that would be expected.
Outlook update schedule
- One and two week outlooks: Mondays around 5pm and Thursdays around 3pm AEST/AEDT.
- One and three month outlooks: Thursdays at 3pm AEST/AEDT.
- Climate and water outlook videos: twice a month on Thursdays.
Download schedule as calendar file (ICS).
We welcome feedback about the climate outlook service.
- Climate outlooks are given as a probability (or chance) of exceeding a specific threshold. For the Bureau’s rainfall outlook, it is provided as the chance of rainfall being above median, expressed as a percentage.
- For those interested in specific rainfall amounts (e.g. 200 mm for the season), or who make decisions at specific probabilities (e.g. if there is a 75% chance it will be drier than average), the Bureau uses the spread of possible rainfall amounts from the climate outlook model to transform output into rainfall scenarios that can be viewed in two different ways:
- Chance of at least: the chances that rainfall for the selected outlook period will exceed particular thresholds, e.g., chance of at least 200 mm over the coming three months, or 10 mm in a week.
- Outlook scenarios: rainfall amounts that are likely at a particular percentage chance, e.g., 25% chance of receiving the given rainfall amount for the period.
- The climate outlook data is prepared on a 60 km by 60 km grid. The data displayed in the pop-up boxes has been interpolated to a 5 km by 5 km grid.
- For the 'chance of at least' and 'outlook scenario' maps, a statistical technique is used to interpolate to a smaller 5 km by 5 km region. This is the resolution of the outlook scenario and chance of at least maps (including the chance of at least information shown in the graphs in the location pop-up boxes)—see example pop-up box right.
Outlook scenario maps
- Outlook scenario maps present the climate outlook information as rainfall amounts which have a 75%, 50% or 25% chance of occurring. To illustrate, the map on the right shows the rainfall outlook from 1 September to 30 November 2019. The colours on the map show the amount of rainfall (mm) that has a 75% chance of occurring during this period. The location highlighted with the black circle in northwest Victoria, has a 75% chance of receiving at least 25 mm and possibly up to 50 mm of rain.
Chance of at least maps
- Chance of at least maps also show the seasonal rainfall outlook, by displaying the chance of receiving a specified rainfall amount. You can choose from 15 different rainfall amounts (in mm) for the different time periods. To illustrate, the map to the right shows the chance of receiving a total rainfall amount of at least 50 mm during 1 September to 30 November 2019. The colours on the map show the percentage chance of 50 mm of rain occurring. The location highlighted with the black circle in northwest Victoria has a 50 to 75% chance of receiving 50 mm of rain during the period.
- Chance of at least rainfall outlook maps are consistent with the outlook scenarios. For the same location in the examples above, the chance of at least 50 mm of rainfall is 50 to 75%, which is consistent with the outlook scenario which shows a 75% chance of at least 25 mm, and possibly up to 50 mm.
Rainfall and temperature medians
- Median is a measure of what is considered typical rainfall or temperature for a specific location - similar to the mean. Due to the high variability of rainfall, and that in some locations, one very wet year can substantially change the overall average, using the median (the middle number when you rank past rainfall or temperature from lowest to highest) is the best representation of typical rainfall.
- The medians (which are the same as the 50th percentile) for Bureau climate outlooks are calculated over the 1990 to 2012 period, as this is the period for which the climate model has been run in historical (or hindcast) mode.
- Median maps for the 1990 to 2012 period for all months and seasons are available from the climate outlook Map archive and Median maps. The median maps on the climate outlooks website will differ slightly from other median maps on the Bureau's website. This is because the dynamical model forecasts use a period of 1990 to 2012 to calculate medians, while other median maps typically use the full Bureau climate record (which extends for more than 100 years).
The Bureau of Meteorology's climate forecast system for weekly to seasonal and longer-range climate outlooks is called the Australian Community Climate Earth-System Simulator – Seasonal (ACCESS–S). It is a state-of-the-art dynamical (physics-based) forecast modelling system, which uses ocean, atmosphere, ice and land observations to initiate outlooks for the season ahead. The ACCESS–S climate model is a collaboration between the Bureau of Meteorology and the UK Meteorological Office (UKMO).
The atmosphere and land model components of ACCESS–S operate at an approximate resolution of 60 km in the Australian region. At this resolution, the model can represent the markedly different climates of the Great Dividing Range and the eastern seaboard in Australia's east.
The ocean model component of ACCESS–S operates at an approximate resolution of 25 km in the Australian region. At this resolution, the model can resolve small-scale currents and eddies.
ACCESS-S outlooks are based on a 99-member ensemble. This is a common climate forecasting technique where the model is run 99 times with slightly different initial conditions to capture a range of likely future scenarios.
Being a dynamical model, ACCESS–S is undergoing continuous research and development. Advances in the science of seasonal prediction, improvements in the observations and how they are fed into the model, as well as increases in supercomputing power are just some of the ways the model's accuracy will increase over time.
ACCESS–S replaced POAMA in August 2018. POAMA, also a dynamical climate model, was used for official Bureau climate outlooks from May 2013 until ACCESS–S was brought into operation. Prior to 2013, the Bureau used a statistical method to generate climate outlooks.
For more technical details on ACCESS–S, see: Hudson, D. et al, 2017: ACESS-S1: The new Bureau of Meteorology multi-week to seasonal prediction system. Journal of Southern Hemisphere Earth Systems Science, 67:3 132-159
Read more about ACCESS-S.
- Model accuracy (also known as model confidence or model skill) is a measure of how well the model has performed at that time of year in the past. The Bureau measures the accuracy of its climate models by comparing how often the real outcomes matched the forecast. This measurement of accuracy is known as percent consistent (or past accuracy), and has been tested for the Bureau's climate outlook model over the period from 1990 to 2012.
- The accuracy measurement shown for the climate outlooks is based on the percent consistent approach, but is weighted by the size of the observed difference from normal. So if the model correctly favoured an area that had an anomalously large rain event, it scores highly, but if it misses that event, points are deducted from the weighting calculation.
- Past accuracy is only one of the ways the Bureau assesses climate models, and it is presented here as it is one of the simplest and most informative measurements of accuracy. Other aspects of overall model ability (skill) are also routinely assessed.
|75% and above — very high|
|65 to 75% — high|
|55 to 65% — moderate|
|50 to 55% — low|
|45 to 50% — low|
|Below 45% — very low|
- Past accuracy maps for all months and seasons are available from the climate outlook Map archive and Accuracy maps. On these maps, the higher the percentage value for an area (i.e. the greener/darker the map), the greater the accuracy of outlooks has been in that area for that time of year and the more confidence can be placed in future outlooks. Areas of the map that are not shaded have a lower record of accuracy in that area for that time of the year. In the least accurate areas, the outlooks perform no better than random chance (equivalent to the flip of a coin). As a guide, the Bureau uses the terminology in the table on the right when referring to the accuracy of the outlooks.
- The accuracy for the second month ahead is generally less than the accuracy for the first month ahead. This is to be expected as the second month looks further into the future and is further from when the outlook period starts. Similarly, the accuracy for one and three month outlooks issued closest to when the outlook period starts is typically higher than the accuracy for outlooks issued earlier in the month. This same principle can be applied to weekly and fortnightly outlooks; the first week or fortnight typically has higher accuracy than the second week or fortnight.