L
Refers to extensive cooling of the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean and neighbouring countries. In Australia (particularly eastern Australia), wet weather is more likely during La Niña events.
Breeze blowing from land towards the sea, due to the relative warmth of the sea.
If hail larger than 2 cm across is expected, we use the words ‘large hail' in our forecast.
Wind speeds of 19 km/h or less.
The bright flash of light accompanying an electrical discharge:
- within a cloud
- between clouds
- from clouds to the ground
- from the cloud top into the surrounding atmosphere.
Possible', 'chance' and 'risk'
May be used interchangeably for location forecasts. Indicates a weather element is expected in the area but there is only a chance of it happening in that specific location. This is due to the random nature of showers and thunderstorms – they can be hit and miss. 'Risk' is generally used about thunderstorms.
'Slight', 'medium', 'high', 'very high' chance
Indicates whether a location is likely to receive a measurable amount of rainfall (>0.2 mm) during the day.
The globe is divided into standard time zones. Local standard time (LST) is the time specified for each zone. This is expressed in terms of hours ahead or behind coordinated universal time (UTC). The LST zones in Australia are:
- EST – Australian Eastern Standard Time (+10 UTC) in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania
- CST – Australian Central Standard Time (+9.5 UTC) in Northern Territory and South Australia
- WST – Australian Western Standard Time (+8 UTC) in Western Australia.
Areas such as bays, harbours and inland waters on which frequent boating activity occurs.
In the southern hemisphere, areas north of about 30° latitude.
For Australia, the low latitudes are north of a line from halfway between Perth and Geraldton in Western Australia to Bourke in New South Wales. This part of Australia generally has a subtropical to tropical climate.
Atmospheric circulations of low pressure that rotate clockwise in the southern hemisphere. Low pressure systems generally bring stronger winds, unsettled conditions, clouds and rain.