New BoM weather radar installed at Taroom to give clearer forecasts across CQ

A new weather radar has been installed at Taroom which will bring benefits to many areas around Central Queensland. Here’s how.

The weather forecast will look a lot clearer in the region thanks to a new weather radar being installed.

Images from the newly installed weather radar in the Taroom region are now live on the Bureau of Meteorology’s website and weather app, letting communities in the region the chance to track severe weather better.

The new radar will also bring benefits to surrounding areas including the people in the Fitzroy, Condamine and Burnett River catchments.

Bureau of Meteorology chief customer officer Dr Peter Stone said the radar would help people in those catchments track rain, wind, storms and severe weather.

“Dual-polarised Doppler technology weather radars are one of the best tools for observing real-time rainfall and wind conditions across large areas, and we know this information is highly valuable for communities, particularly primary producers,” he said.

“Images from the radar are now live on the Bureau's website and app will benefit communities as far as Woorabinda, Baralaba, Moura and Biloela to the north, Mundubbera and Gayndah to the east, Miles, Surat, Tara and Chinchilla to the south, and Injune and Roma to the west.”

The new radar is one of four being delivered in Queensland thanks to $77.2 million in funding from the Federal Government.

Images from the newly installed weather radar in the Taroom region are now live on the Bureau of Meteorology’s website and weather app.

An existing radar in Moree will also be relocated to provide increased coverage of southern Queensland.

Dr Stone said while radars are important tools, the bureau’s forecast and weather warning service was resilient and not dependent on any one piece of equipment.

“This Taroom radar is one part of a comprehensive weather observation network of more than 11,000 assets including satellites, upper atmosphere monitoring, automatic weather stations, ocean buoys and flood warning networks,” he said.

“Forecasts and warnings for all regions are based on a combination of many of these different observing systems.

“More than 90 per cent of data that feeds into the Bureau's weather models come from satellites. The network provides a comprehensive dataset that enables communities to effectively respond to weather events.”

The Taroom radar is part of the most significant upgrade of Australia’s radar and observation network in a generation.

By June next year BoM will deliver eight new radars, as well as upgrades to 46 radars, almost 700 automatic weather stations and 200 flood warning network assets.

By June 2024, the Bureau of Meteorology will deliver eight new radars, plus upgrades to 46 radars, nearly 700 automatic weather stations and 200 flood warning network assets.