Controversies and issues with BOM including website flaws and radar concerns
BOM’s list of flops and failures continues to grow after the recent website redesign sparked backlash. TIMELINE OF DISASTERS
The Bureau of Meteorology is meant to be Queensland’s go-to site to keep residents safe, but a series of controversies have undermined the nation’s national weather, climate, water and ocean agency.
From issues over blackspots and radar inaccuracies to delayed alerts and now website concerns, this is BOM’s wild ride in recent years.
Branding policy backlash
BOM faced public outcry in October 2022 after it announced a policy requesting people use its full name, “Bureau of Meteorology”, instead of its decades-old acronym “BOM”.
The request was seen as unnecessarily pedantic, and many criticised the Bureau for focusing on branding rather than addressing concerns about its services and operations.
To make matters worse, the rebranding was announced during widespread and severe flooding in eastern Australia, leading to criticism. Many Australians felt the rebranding was out of touch with public and safety needs.
The project, reportedly costing over $220,000, included expenditures on visual style changes, research, logos, and media outreach.
Ratepayers hit with massive alert bill
Brisbane ratepayers were in November 2025 facing a bill of up to $500,000 for critical real-time weather information the Bureau of Meteorology used to provide for free.
Brisbane City Council was in preliminary discussions with businesses who could provide a replacement for the Bureau’s retiring Enviromon software, which gave its more than 230,000 subscribers real-time creek flood level alerts.
The bureau shocked councils late 2024 when it first revealed it was replacing Enviromon from next July with a new piece of software called OneRain, which it could not sub-license.
On the weekend it was revealed smaller Queensland’s councils had been preparing to pay up to $40,000 for their own software.
Brisbane City Council — with its 1.36m residents — then revealed it was facing an estimated $500,000 bill to source, procure, implement and test an alternative system.
Criticism over weather warnings
During Queensland’s Christmas Day storms in 2023 residents and officials criticised the BOM’s response to the extreme weather.
The delayed delivery of flood warnings left many residents stranded in dangerous conditions, and the storms caused significant damage and disruption.
Gold Coast mayor Tom Tate described it as “unforgivable” that storm warnings were issued after the storms had already passed.
The criticism led to calls for a federal review of the BOM’s weather warning systems, highlighting concerns over their effectiveness during emergencies.
Complaints over forecast inaccuracies
The BOM has faced ongoing criticism for its forecasting accuracy, particularly in Queensland.
Short-term forecasts have been criticised for predicting rainfall that did not materialise, inconveniencing businesses and individuals.
Farmers have also expressed concerns over long-term forecasts that proved unreliable, leading to significant financial losses when they planned crops based on predictions of dry seasons or rainfall that differed from actual conditions.
This was particularly notable as BOM forecast a “hot, dry summer” for 2023-24, which instead resulted in widespread rain and flooding.
This inaccurate El Nino prediction led to significant financial losses for cattle farmers, many of whom sold off livestock in anticipation of drought conditions, only for markets to crash during the subsequent flooding.
Storm alerts concerns
BOM has faced criticism, including from southeast Queensland councils for failing to provide timely storm and flood alerts.
Examples include insufficient warnings before heavy rainfall in early 2024, delayed warnings for other storms in late 2023 and 2024, and issues with its newer weather radar.
These failures have led to a loss of public trust and a demand for improvements.
In February 2024, mayors criticised the BOM for not providing sufficient warnings before heavy rain hit southeast Queensland, with forecasts initially predicting only light rain.
There have also been instances of BOM alerts being issued late, sometimes only after heavy rain had already started.
THE BUREAU COULD HAVE BETTER EXPLAINED THE CHANGES, ESPECIALLY AT THIS CRITICAL TIME OF YEAR. READ TODAY’S EDITORIAL AND JOIN THE DISCUSSION
Radar ‘blackspot’ issues
During the Channel Country floods in March-April this year, a long‑standing weather radar gap across south‑west Queensland — roughly Quilpie through to Birdsville — left communities short on real‑time visibility during record‑breaking rain and river rises.
Local leaders and graziers said warnings and situational awareness suffered, sparking renewed calls — and some political commitments — to fund a new Bureau of Meteorology radar.
Standard radars have practical range limits of about 200–250km, so storms can fade or “vanish” at the edge of coverage; locals and media have described it as a roughly 1200km blind spot.
Website redesign controversy
The BOM launched a new website last week, which was immediately met with public backlash, especially among Queensland residents preparing for the storm season.
Critics highlighted issues such as poor design, difficulty in navigation, and problems with the radar system underestimating storm intensity and providing delayed updates.
The redesigned colour scheme made it harder to interpret storm severity, including identifying hail risks.
The timing of the rollout, just before the peak storm season, was also widely questioned.
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