Bureau of Meteorology

The Bureau of Meteorology is an Executive Agency of the Government of Australia. The institution provides weather services to Australia as well as surrounding areas. It is now the main provider of weather forecasts, warnings and observations to the Australian public.

The Bureau of Meteorology also has three Tropical Cyclone Warning Centre (TCWC) offices that are located in Perth, Darwin and Brisbane. Each TCWC serves to track and forecast tropical cyclones within their area of responsibility. The TCWC in Perth tracks all cyclones located between 90˚E and 125˚E, covering the south-eastern parts of the Indian Ocean. The TCWC in Darwin tracks cyclones located between 125˚E and 141˚E, covering an area which consists of the Timor Sea, Arafura Sea, Banda Sea and the western Gulf of Carpentaria. The TCWC in Brisbane tracks cyclones located between 141˚E and 160˚E, covering the eastern Gulf of Carpentaria and the Coral Sea.

The three warning centres provide to the Australian public warnings, forecasts and other information about active tropical cyclones happening within the area. Ocean wind warnings are regularly issued when cyclones are affecting waters surrounding Australia. If a cyclone threatens to impact coastal and island communities in Australia, a Tropical Cyclone Advice is issued, giving information about the cyclone's current status and the areas under threat. A Tropical Cyclone Forecast Track Map is also released which provides a visual representation of the cyclone's past track and predicted track. If a cyclone is expected to not affect the coast of Australia within 48 hours, a Tropical Cyclone Information Bulletin is issued, giving simple information about the cyclone and possible impacts in the long term. The bureau also issues warnings for external territories of Australia, such as Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Christmas Island and Norfolk Island.

Monthly summaries are issued by the bureau which covers notable weather events in Australia during that month, as well as short summaries of all cyclones existed during the month, with cyclones which had an impact on Australia in more detail. If a particular cyclone had a major impact on Australia, an individual page is released giving more details about the cyclone's impact, observations recorded and the storm's history. The page may also include satellite, radar and rainfall images.