Marine weather service areas

Learn about areas covered by our marine weather services, with maps for local and coastal waters, high seas, ocean wind warnings and METAREAs

On this page

Local and coastal waters forecast areas

Local waters areas around Australia include:

  • bays
  • harbours
  • inland waters, such as lakes, where there is frequent boating activity.

Coastal water areas are within 60 nautical miles of the coast.

Learn more about local and coastal waters forecasts on our Marine weather hazards and warnings page.

Map showing 82 local and coastal areas around Australia. These are used for issuing marine forecasts. The areas start with 1 at Torres Strait and go clockwise around the continent to finish at 78 in eastern Gulf of Carpentaria. The map also shows offshore island territories of Cocos Islands at 79, Christmas Island 80, Lord Howe Island 81, and Norfolk Island 82. Capital city local waters areas are Brisbane at 12, Sydney 18, Melbourne 27, Hobart 34, 35, 36 and 37, Adelaide 48, Perth 59 and 60, and Darwin 71.
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Boundaries of local and coastal waters forecast areas around Australia

Marine high frequency (HF) radio broadcast areas

We broadcast marine weather information over HF radio for the high seas and Australian coastal areas. Broadcasts are made from 2 stations:

  • VMC – for services from Charleville in Queensland.
  • VMW – for services from Wiluna in Western Australia.

You'll find broadcast frequencies and schedules on our Weather information at sea page.

You can also learn about guidelines for marine radio weather broadcasts.

Map of marine radio broadcast areas around Australia. VMC Charleville broadcasts coastal waters forecasts for Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania and High Seas forecasts for the northern, north eastern, south eastern, and southern areas. VMW Wiluna broadcasts coastal waters forecasts for South Australia, Western Australia, and the Northern Territory, and the High Seas forecasts for the northern, western, and southern areas. Ocean wind warnings are broadcast on both stations
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Marine radio broadcast areas around Australia

High seas forecast areas

We provide forecasts for high seas areas around Australia, and some parts of south-east Asia and the Pacific. This area generally aligns with Australia's area of responsibility under the international METAREA system for maritime safety.

Map showing the Australian high seas forecast areas stretching north from Antarctica's sea ice to the equator. The western boundary is at 80°E in the south and cuts in to 90°E north of 30°S. The eastern boundary is 170°E in the north and contracts south-west to 160°E below 45°S to exclude New Zealand. There are 5 areas within these boundaries – western, northern, north-eastern, south-eastern and southern.
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High seas forecast areas in the Australian region

Ocean wind warning areas

The area for our ocean wind warnings also generally aligns with Australia's area of responsibility under the international METAREA system for maritime safety.

You can learn more about ocean wind warnings on the Marine weather hazards and warnings page.

In the tropics, hurricane-force (category 3) winds are associated with severe tropical cyclones. Find out about Australia's role in global cyclone monitoring, and our area of responsibility for this, on the Tropical cyclone warning services page.

You'll find information about current and forecast tropical cyclones on our current site – we're still building this new one.

Map showing the Australian ocean wind warning areas, stretching north from Antarctica to the equator. To avoid overlapping the neighbouring METAREAs and Indonesia's tropical cyclone area of responsibility, the northern boundary shifts from the equator to between 9 and 11°S, west of 141°E. The eastern boundary is 170°E in the north. To exclude New Zealand, it contracts south-west at 29°S to 160°E. The western boundary is at 80°E in the south, cutting in to 90°E north of 30°S.
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Ocean wind warning areas in the Australian region

International METAREA system

There is a globally coordinated service for providing maritime safety information such as:

  • navigational and meteorological warnings
  • meteorological forecasts
  • other urgent safety-related messages broadcast to ships.

This service is called the Worldwide Met-Ocean Information and Warning Service.

It's coordinated by the International Maritime Organization and the World Meteorological Organization.

Under this arrangement, the world's oceans have been divided into 21 meteorological areas (METAREAs).

World map with the oceans divided into 21 areas. These are meteorological areas, also called metareas. Each is a different colour on the map, has a Roman numeral and the name of the nation responsible for maritime safety information. Australia has responsibility for metarea 10, shown as X in Roman numerals, in the centre of the map. The Australian area is green and extends from the equator to the Antarctic sea ice. Neighbouring metareas are assigned to South Africa, Mauritius, China, Japan and New Zealand.
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METAREAs around the world. Credit: International Maritime Organization and the World Meteorological Organization.

METAREAs explained

METAREAs are geographical sea areas set up to help coordinate marine safety broadcasts.

National meteorological services assume responsibility for these areas. They prepare and issue:

  • meteorological information in warnings
  • weather and sea bulletins for the high seas.

This helps countries provide vital weather information to mariners travelling through international and territorial waters.

These arrangements form part of the Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS). It's a network of communication channels for mariners to connect with satellite and radio communications when out at sea.

The same system is used for Australia’s NAVAREA – our area of responsibility for providing navigational safety information. These services are provided by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority.

Australia's area of responsibility – METAREA 10

Governments assign coordinators for their METAREA. The Australian Government has appointed the Bureau as its coordinator for METAREA 10.

METAREA 10 encompasses oceans and seas around Australia and some parts of the Pacific. The southern border is the Antarctic coastline.

To meet our responsibilities for METAREA 10, we provide services including:

These services are provided on the GMDSS network. Learn more about this on the World Meteorological Organization's GMDSS METAREA 10 page.

For the latest METAREA 10 warnings, see Warnings and alerts.

Map showing metarea 10 extends north from Antarctica to the Torres Strait and east into the Pacific. It encompasses the South Pacific Ocean around Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. The western boundary is at 80°E. The northern boundary ranges from 30° S in the west to the equator in the east. The eastern boundary is 170°E from the equator. It cuts in to 160°E to exclude New Zealand as it stretches south to Antarctica.
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Australia's area of responsibility under the international METAREA system for maritime safety, METAREA 10

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