Northern Territory
Northern Territory severe weather & warning links.
Use SecureNT and BOM for Northern Territory warning information, with separate forecasts for Darwin, the Top End and Central Australia.
Current Bureau of Meteorology warnings for the Northern Territory
1 current warning listed by the Bureau of Meteorology.
| Type | Warning | Issued |
|---|---|---|
| Other | Heatwave Warning (NT) |
Warning titles and issue times from the Bureau of Meteorology's public warnings feed, © Commonwealth of Australia (terms), shown with links only: read each warning on the Bureau's site. Checked every 10 minutes; last received . Atmosphr is not affiliated with the Bureau.
Official information first
This page is a directory, not a live warning feed. Open BOM to check the current warning area and issue time, and SecureNT for local information. Atmosphr does not issue or reproduce official emergency warnings here.
Northern Territory weather hazards and when they occur
The Top End has two seasons, the Wet and the Dry, while Central Australia has four seasons with hot summers and cold winter nights.
| Hazard | Typical season | Where in the state | Official source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wet season rain and storms | November to April in the Top End | Darwin, Katherine, Kakadu and Arnhem Land | Tourism NT: weather and seasons |
| Tropical cyclone | Mostly November to April | Top End coast and islands; decaying systems can bring heavy rain far inland | BOM cyclones, SecureNT |
| Riverine flooding | Wet season, often after cyclones or rain depressions | Katherine, Daly River and remote communities | SecureNT |
| Heat, and cold nights in the Centre | Summer heat; frosty winter nights | Alice Springs, Tennant Creek and the Uluru region | Tourism NT: weather and seasons |
| Bushfire | Dry conditions | Across the Territory | NT Fire and Rescue Service |
Northern Territory events worth knowing
- Cyclone Tracy, 25 December 1974. The Category 4 cyclone struck Darwin in the early hours of Christmas Day, killing 66 people and devastating 80% of the city. Wind gauges registered 217 km/h before the instruments failed, and 35,362 of about 47,000 residents were evacuated.
- Katherine flood, January 1998. Tropical Cyclone Les weakened into a rain depression, and 400 to 500 mm fell over three days. By 27 January the Katherine River had risen above 20 m, the main street was under 2 m of water and three people drowned.
- Tropical Cyclone Marcus, 17 March 2018. Marcus passed over Darwin as a Category 2 system, with gusts of 130 km/h. About 26,000 homes lost power. It was the strongest cyclone to hit Darwin since Tracy.
Official Northern Territory channels
- SecureNT: the Territory’s site for alerts, warnings and preparation, with links to road information.
- NT Emergency Service: call 132 500 for help during floods, storms and cyclones. In an emergency always dial 000.
- Cyclones: the Bureau issues a watch when gales are expected within 24 to 48 hours and a warning, updated every 3 hours, when gales are expected within 24 hours or are already occurring.
- Warning levels: emergency services use the Australian Warning System. the Queensland Government’s explanation of the national system sets out the three levels: Advice (yellow), meaning an incident has started with no immediate danger; Watch and Act (orange), a heightened threat where you should start taking action; and Emergency Warning (red), the highest level, where you may be in danger and need to act immediately.
- Fire danger: since 1 September 2022 Australia has used the Australian Fire Danger Rating System. Its four levels are Moderate (plan and prepare), High (prepare to act), Extreme (take action now to protect your life and property) and Catastrophic (for your survival, leave bush fire risk areas).
Using Atmosphr in the Northern Territory
The Territory uses UTC+9:30 all year and does not observe daylight saving. Darwin is half an hour behind Brisbane year-round, and in summer an hour behind Adelaide and an hour and a half behind Sydney. Atmosphr requests each forecast in the selected place’s local time zone.
Distances are large, so open Darwin and each stop south separately, or use the NT forecast hub. Atmosphr shows Open-Meteo model forecasts and RainViewer radar frames from the recent past. It does not issue warnings, and a quiet map is not an all-clear. Remote radar coverage has gaps, and a forecast says nothing about whether a road or crossing is open.
Plan across the Top End and Central Australia
Darwin and Palmerston are useful metropolitan starting points. For cyclone information, follow the Bureau’s official outlook and track products through SecureNT or BOM rather than extrapolating a path from the wind map.
Katherine, Tennant Creek and Alice Springs are separate checks along a long north–south journey. Read the forecast for each stop and confirm the local time instead of treating the Darwin view as a Territory summary.
SecureNT brings together preparedness, warnings and links to road information. A recent radar composite cannot establish whether a remote route is accessible; use the road authority and local advice for that decision.
Local forecasts and rain radar
| Location | Model weather | Recent radar |
|---|---|---|
| Darwin | Darwin 7-day forecast | Darwin radar |
| Palmerston | Palmerston 7-day forecast | Palmerston radar |
| Katherine | Katherine 7-day forecast | Katherine radar |
| Tennant Creek | Tennant Creek 7-day forecast | Tennant Creek radar |
| Alice Springs | Alice Springs 7-day forecast | Alice Springs radar |
Today’s forecast for Northern Territory towns. Each forecast link opens that town’s 7-day forecast page. The radar link opens recent RainViewer composite imagery, including an old BOM-style layout. It is not a station-specific BOM product.
Search another town or suburb · Understand radar coverage and colour
Plan an activity
Sources and further reading
- BOM warnings and alerts
- SecureNT
- SecureNT alerts and warnings
- Tourism NT: weather and seasons
- BOM: tropical cyclones, what you need to know
- NT Emergency Service
- Australian Fire Danger Rating System
- AIDR Knowledge Hub: Cyclone Tracy, Darwin 1974
- AIDR Knowledge Hub: Katherine flood 1998
- AIDR Knowledge Hub: Tropical Cyclone Marcus 2018
- NT Standard Time Act 2005 (PDF)
- Tourism Australia: Australian time zones