Darwin residents to benefit from major upgrade to local weather radar

21/09/2022

Issued: Wednesday, 21 September 2022

Residents and industry in Darwin will now have access to more reliable and up-to-date weather information, with the Bureau of Meteorology completing a significant upgrade to the Berrimah weather radar in Darwin.

Hazard and Preparedness Manager-Northern Territory Shenagh Gamble said over the past 2 months a new digital receiver and control system for the Berrimah weather radar was installed on schedule.

“Accurate and timely weather information is critical for local residents and industry, including aviation and resources, in and around Darwin,” she said.

“The upgrades to the weather radar will assist the community to track rain, wind, storms and severe weather with increased confidence."

Ms Gamble said the radar upgrade will also support emergency services to make informed time-critical decisions during severe weather events, to keep the community safe.

"The new technology in the Berrimah weather radar provides improved coverage for the north coast area of the Northern Territory - linking coverage between the Gove, Warruwi and Darwin (Berrimah) weather radars - and more comprehensive tropical cyclone and monsoon monitoring."

Images from the newly upgraded radar are now live on the Bureau's website and BOM Weather app.

The Berrimah weather 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.

ENDS