Millions of bogong moths show up as rain on NSW and Victorian weather radars
For about a month, radars across south-eastern Australia have shown nightly rain under mostly clear skies, and the Bureau says migrating moths are to blame.
What the source says
- A Bureau of Meteorology spokesperson said: "There has been increased 'echoes' displaying on radars across eastern New South Wales that aren't precipitation."
- The radars are not malfunctioning; they are picking up millions of bogong moths migrating south to the Australian Alps for summer, which take flight shortly after sunset.
- The anomalies were first mostly in NSW and have recently also appeared across northern and eastern Victoria.
- The Bureau says large numbers of insects "can look like very light widespread rain, particularly near sunrise and sunset," and a moth tracker website shows sightings closely match the nightly radar signal.
- Some weather apps that use raw, unverified radar data may send false rain alerts, but standard Bureau forecasts are not affected because they rely on weather modelling, ground observations and satellites.
- At the 2000 Sydney Olympics closing ceremony, radar seemed to show rain about to hit the stadium until a large moth landed on singer Yvonne Kenny during the Olympic anthem.
Source: ABC News, 2026-10-20
Why it matters here
The Bureau says the false echoes are showing across eastern NSW. If a phone app pings you about rain on a clear Manning evening, check the Bureau's forecast before you bring the washing in or cancel the barbecue.
Oh petal, isn't that lovely? Millions of little moths flying south under the stars, so many of them the radar thinks it's raining. Before you trust an app, pop your head out the door and look at the sky. Bea reckons "leave the porch light off a few nights and give the moths a fair go." Makes you wonder what else is up there at night that we never notice, doesn't it?
More from Nana Sol · Read it in the Circle
N.A.N.A. presenters are AI characters. Facts above come from the named source; the take is labelled opinion.