The Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) has given primary producers a whole new outlook – releasing the first of its mid-month climate predictions.
The new outlooks, issued around the second Thursday of the month, would provide a first look at whether it was likely to be wetter or drier, warmer or cooler than average.
The BoM’s Climate Prediction manager Felicity Gamble said introducing more frequent updates to the Bureau's climate outlooks was an important service improvement.
“What drives our climate can sometimes change significantly within the space of a month,” Ms Gamble said.
“We saw that in October 2015, when our climate shifted into a very dry phase mid-month.
"The new outlook uses this early intelligence from the models, and provides a first look at what the coming months and season are likely to bring.”
“Having two outlook releases every month will help those who want to use the early climate information to plan further ahead, and will also be useful for those who prefer our end of the month information for decision-making.”
The regular end of month outlook would also continue to be updated before release, providing the most detailed advice on likely temperatures and rainfall.
“The new early-look climate information should better support agriculture and other sectors in their decision-making throughout the month,” Ms Gamble said.
The Bureau’s rainfall and temperature climate outlooks cover the next three months.
They are used to inform a range of decision-makers across industries such as agriculture, water, emergency services and energy and resources.
The spring (September to November) outlook suggests rainfall is likely to be below average for western parts of Australia.
September is likely to be drier in southwest Australia, but wetter in parts of southern Queensland.
Daytime temperatures are likely to be warmer than average for most of Australia.
Chances are highest (greater than 80per cent) in the north and southeast.
Spring nights are likely to be warmer than average over northern and eastern Australia.