The Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) has announced it is giving Australians greater access to its extensive weather and climate observation network through a new app that it says has already attracted 10 million user sessions in two weeks.
Officially launched this week, the app provides Australians in any location access to hourly forecasts over the next three days (replacing three-hourly forecasts for the coming day), pan and zoom radars with individual location markers, current windspeeds in km/h and knots, and a four-day UV index.
Minister for the Environment Sussan Ley said that weather information is a vital service to regional and metropolitan Australians and that the government is investing significantly in new infrastructure, radar and other observation technology as well as the best ways to keep the public informed.
“Having reliable weather information at your finger-tips is not a luxury for many people, it can be vital,” Ley said.“The Bureau operates one of the world’s most extensive weather and climate observation networks, and this app places that network directly in the hands of Australians.
“The importance people place on accessing that information is underlined by the fact that 3.3 million devices in Australia have the weather app installed and that in the last two weeks of its trial period 1.5 million people have upgraded to take advantage of its new services.