Bushfire weather in Australia
Weather conditions influence the size, intensity and speed of bushfires – and how dangerous they can be.
We issue fire weather warnings when conditions are likely to be dangerous, to help keep Australians safe.
In this section, explore:
- Australia's fire weather seasons and how they vary across the continent
- how weather affects fire behaviour, and the impact of climate change
- how fires make thunderstorms
- our fire weather services – fire weather warnings, fire danger ratings and the fire behaviour index.
To find out how we work with emergency services across the country, view our Emergency management page.
For fire services in your state or territory, see our Emergency contacts page.
Smoke and air quality information
State and territory health and environment agencies are responsible for monitoring bushfire smoke and warning the community when the air quality exceeds safe levels. To find your local agency, view our Emergency contacts page.
We include information about smoke haze in forecasts when it's expected to be significant.
Video: Understanding fire weather
While bushfires can happen at any time of the year, the time of peak bushfire activity varies across Australia with the changes in the seasonal weather patterns. For northern Australia, the peak bushfire period is during the dry season which is generally throughout winter and spring and for Southern Australia the bushfire season peaks in Summer and Autumn. While these are traditional peaks of the bushfire season, local conditions can drive dangerous bushfire activity at any time. When the weather is hot, the humidity is low and there's been little recent rain, vegetation dries out and becomes more flammable. Vegetation growth can be encouraged by periods of wet weather, increasing the amount of fuel and future bushfire risk when the weather is dry.
Strong gusty winds help fan the flames and cause a fire to spread faster across the landscape, reducing the time you have to prepare. Above the fire, strong winds can carry hot embers long distances. These can start spot fires many kilometres ahead of the main fire front. A change in wind direction can bring a period of dangerous bushfire activity. This is often seen as a trough or cold front – also known as a cool change – shifting the direction of the wind, altering the course of the fire and broadening the fire front. Lightning produced by thunderstorms can ignite bushfires.
Large fires can also create their own thunderstorms known as pyrocumulonimbus, they can cause erratic more intense and dangerous bushfire behaviour.
The Bureau issues fire weather warnings when forecast weather conditions are likely to be dangerous. We work closely with emergency services around the country to keep the community informed. The Bureau and emergency services use four fire danger ratings to communicate the level of bushfire risk. The higher the rating, the more dangerous the conditions are likely to be. At higher ratings any fire that starts will likely to be fast moving and difficult to control. No matter what the forecast fire rating, if you live in or traveling to an area that could be affected by bushfire, you need to have a bushfire plan in place so you know what to do if a bushfire starts. On a day when dangerous bushfire activity is more likely, stay in touch with your local fire agency and emergency services via their website and social media and tune in to emergency broadcasters.
Keep up to date with the fire weather warnings by checking the Bureau website, the BOM Weather app, and you can also follow us on Twitter.
Know your weather. Know your risk.

Severe weather can develop quickly and threaten lives and property. You can reduce its impact by getting ready before it happens.
Find out how to set up BOM Weather app warning notifications.