Research Reports - Severe Weather

Cities Project Perth

The natural hazard study conducted in Perth, Western Australia as part of Geoscience Australia's Cities Project is aimed at estimating the impact on the Perth community of several, sudden onset natural hazards.

Meteorological Hazards

The Perth region is subject to a range of meteorologically related hazards including winter storms, summer storms, floods, tropical cyclones, heatwaves and bushfires. Of these, cool season storms are the most frequent and on average have the greatest economic impact.

Severe Wind Hazards

Extreme wind is one of the major natural hazards experienced in Perth and, during the past 40 years, cool season storms have resulted in the highest insurance losses in south west Western Australia.

Southeast Queensland

East Coast Low Risks

East coast lows, also known as east coast cyclones, winter cyclones or easterly trough lows, are one of a range of low pressure systems which most often develop during the winter months along the east coast of Australia between latitudes 25º and 40º south.

Severe Thunderstorm Risks

The term thunderstorm is a generic description of a relatively small scale convective process which can occur when the atmosphere is moist and unstable. Under these conditions, Cumulonimbus clouds develop rapidly, potentially reaching heights of up to 20 kilometres with associated lightning, thunder, severe wind gusts, heavy rain and hail.

Heat wave Risks

According to Coates (1996), heat waves kill more people than any other natural phenomenon experienced in Australia. In the period between 1803 and 1992 at least 4287 people died in Australia as a direct result of heat waves.

AusGeo News

March 2006 Beating the Big Blows

Although tropical cyclones rarely strike Australian cities, severe winds cause significant damage each year. While cyclonic winds are a northern Australian phenomenon, winds driven by thunderstorms and tornadoes also inflict serious damage and sometimes result in loss of life in southern States.

Wind Hazard Modelling Reports

The modelling of severe wind gust is a fundamental part of any wind hazard assessment. Statistical modelling for the most part is used to describe the probability of extreme wind occurrences.

N H (Doc) Fisher Geoscience Library

The Geoscience Australia Library is the premier geo-science library in Australia. Established in 1946, the library has an extensive collection of earth sciences material and is open to the public.

Topic contact: hazards@ga.gov.au Last updated: July 18, 2012