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Some of Australia’s most spectacular weather photos will appear on the Bureau of Meteorology‘s calendar next year.
Each year the agency selects 13 weather themed images for its calendar, and this year’s top picks were selected from 1,400 submissions.
The cover image is an image of a dust devil captured by photographer Coral Stanley-Joblin near Whim Creek in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.
In a year of major weather events, photographers captured an air burst in Normanton, Queensland, a heavy lightning strike near Forster, New South Wales, and a salt dust storm at Kati Thanda (Lake Eyre) in South Australia.
Other images include massive swell, stunning cloud formations in Queensland, and hoar frost in alpine Victoria.
Patience pays off for WA photographers
The Western Australian photographer Grahame Kelaher is featured on the calendar for the first time.
His picture of Aurora Borealis over Norring Lake near Wagin takes pride of place as a January photo.
“One in 10 you could get a nice shot of it [the aurora],” he says.
“We went to the lake, settled down and waited until about 1 a.m. …
“It’s rare and unique, hard to come by, so it makes it even more special.”
Aurora can also be seen in another image taken by Barry Becker at the Australian meteorological office at Davis Station in Antarctica.
Calendar complements weather education
The bureau’s chief meteorologist Dean Narrmore says the calendar is an opportunity to educate people about the variety of weather in Australia.
Mr Narrmore says his favorite picture on next year’s calendar is a supercell thunderstorm that Bet Wright captured near Gympie, Queensland.
Supercell thunderstorms are strong, short-lived storms that can last for hours.
“Super cells are awesome to look at, but a lot of people don’t realize how dangerous they can be,” he says.
“This brought very strong winds, heavy rains and, in some areas, hail the size of tennis balls.
“The rotating base that you can see in the photo is a clear indication that the storm is strong and potentially dangerous conditions are on the way.”
