Understanding a daily weather forecast
Meat & Livestock Australia October 24, 2023
To understand a daily weather forecast from the Bureau, you need to pay attention to three main aspects: the forecast icon, the chance of any rain, and the possible rainfall.
Figure 1. An example daily weather forecast.
Source: www.bom.gov.au
The forecast icon is a symbol that represents the general weather condition for the day or the hour. For example, a sun icon means sunny weather, a cloud icon means cloudy weather, and a raindrop icon means rainy weather.
The next item to look at is the chance of any rain. This is represented as a percentage that tells you how likely it is that at least 0.2 mm of rain will fall in your area. For example, if the forecast says there is a 80% chance of rain, that means there is a 80% chance of getting some rain, and a 20% chance of getting no rain at all.
Finally, the possible rainfall provides a range between two numbers. However, it’s important to note that there is more behind these numbers than meets the eye. The first number is the least amount of rain that is 75% likely, while the second number is the least amount of rain that is 20% likely. So, in this example, there is a 75% chance of receiving at least 1 mm, while there’s a 25% chance of receiving at least 15 mm.
Read more about this on the Bureau’s website: Australia’s official weather forecasts & weather radar – Bureau of Meteorology