Aviation weather in Oceania

Mountain wave and rotor over the Southern Alps, roaring-forties wind at exposed coastal airports, summer convection over the Australian interior and morning fog in the southern basins.

At a glance

Main hazards Crosswind, Mountain wave, Turbulence, Thunderstorms, Fog
Most demanding season June – September
Thunderstorm season November – March
Representative airports YSSY · YMML · YBBN · NZAA · NZCH
Official sources Bureau of Meteorology aviation (Australia) · MetService aviation (New Zealand)

The services linked above are the authoritative source for this region. This page explains what their reports contain; it is not a substitute for an official briefing.

What these hazards mean

Crosswind Wind across the runway. Every aircraft has a demonstrated limit, and a wet or contaminated surface lowers what is usable well below it.
Mountain wave Wind over a ridge sets up standing waves and rotor beneath them — severe turbulence and sustained up- or downdraughts far from the terrain.
Turbulence Clear-air, mechanical or convective. The clear-air kind gives no visual warning and is why the seatbelt sign stays on in cruise.
Thunderstorms Cumulonimbus cells carrying severe turbulence, hail, lightning and downdraughts; avoided laterally, never flown through.
Fog Radiation fog forms on clear, calm nights and burns off late; sea fog can sit for days. It closes airports that were forecast open.

METAR decoder

Paste a raw observation and read it in plain language. It runs in your browser — the report never leaves your device, and nothing is stored.

Works with ICAO reports and with the North American SM / inHg variant.

Related guides

Wave clouds stacked downwind of a mountain ridge — turbulence you can see

Turbulence: The Four Types, and Which Ones Can Be Forecast

Clear-air, mechanical, convective and wake turbulence come from different causes and are predicted with very different success. Here is which is which.

Weather hazards in flight 9 min read

A crosswind approach: the aircraft tracking the centreline while pointing somewhere else

Crosswind and Runway Condition: Turning Wind Into a Number

How to convert a reported wind into a crosswind component, what a demonstrated limit actually is, and why a wet runway lowers the usable figure.

Weather and flight planning 8 min read

The last check before walking out: charts, route and forecast side by side

The Preflight Weather Briefing: A Checklist That Works

A briefing is a sequence, not a website. Here is the order that answers the route questions before the aerodrome ones, and the checks people skip.

Weather and flight planning 9 min read

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Last updated 2026-08-09 by aviationwheater.siten.co · About us

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