Latest news with #RobSharpe
Yahoo
23-06-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Aussies brace for ‘pretty wild' weather
Ski resorts are in for 'pretty wild' weather that could halt ski lifts and bring about blizzards as other parts of the country brace to shiver through temperatures in the negatives. Major ski resorts can expect to record between 30mm and 5mm of rain in the coming days followed by 30cm and 60cm of snow. Sky News Weather senior meteorologist Rob Sharpe said the 'wild' weather could bring about blizzards and grind ski lifts to a halt. 'It's going to be pretty wild up there, essentially over the next 48 hours,' Mr Sharpe said. '(There could be a) considerable time where the ski lifts stops spinning due to the windy weather. 'But it's going to be great skiing conditions from Thursday with all the fresh snow on the ground.' Areas in the country's southeast are also set to shiver through plummeting temperatures this week, with Tumbarumba in NSW set to drop to -5C on Friday before a slight increase to -3C through the weekend. Areas like Wangaratta in Victoria can also expect cold minimum temperatures of -2C heading into the weekend. Mr Sharpe said some of the coldest temperatures were expected on Wednesday, particularly in Victoria, NSW, Tasmania and the ACT, as a complex low pressure system with a series of cold fronts moved through the southeast. Southern inland NSW and the ACT are set to experience the 'most remarkable' cold weather on Wednesday, with the ACT in for one of the coldest days this year, a forecast maximum of 8C. 'It's going to be another very cold day for Canberra … in most year's there's only a few days below 10C each winter,' Mr Sharpe said. 'It's going to be one of those days on Wednesday.' Sydney can expect showers and a low of 13C on Tuesday before dropping to 11C on Wednesday. Melbourne is in for a week of showers, plummeting from a minimum temperature of 12C to 7C over Tuesday and Wednesday. Brisbane is also tipped for a week of rain, with minimum temperatures expected to stay around 15C before dropping to a respective 11C and 9C on Thursday and Friday. Perth is tipped for minimum temperatures around 6C this week, while Adelaide is expected to experience showers with minimum temperatures fluctuating between 6-9C over the course of the week. Hobart's Tuesday minimum temperature of 10C is expected to drop to 4C by Thursday, with showers tipped through the week. A minimum temperature of 1C is forecast in Canberra on Wednesday before -3C minimums on Thursday and Friday. Darwin appears to be the place to be this week, with minimum temperatures in the low 20s through much of the week with a bit of sun expected.
News.com.au
23-06-2025
- Climate
- News.com.au
‘Pretty wild' weather could halt ski lifts, bring on blizzards at major resorts
Ski resorts are in for 'pretty wild' weather that could halt ski lifts and bring about blizzards as other parts of the country brace to shiver through temperatures in the negatives. Major ski resorts can expect to record between 30mm and 5mm of rain in the coming days followed by 30cm and 60cm of snow. Sky News Weather senior meteorologist Rob Sharpe said the 'wild' weather could bring about blizzards and grind ski lifts to a halt. 'It's going to be pretty wild up there, essentially over the next 48 hours,' Mr Sharpe said. '(There could be a) considerable time where the ski lifts stops spinning due to the windy weather. 'But it's going to be great skiing conditions from Thursday with all the fresh snow on the ground.' Areas in the country's southeast are also set to shiver through plummeting temperatures this week, with Tumbarumba in NSW set to drop to -5C on Friday before a slight increase to -3C through the weekend. Areas like Wangaratta in Victoria can also expect cold minimum temperatures of -2C heading into the weekend. Mr Sharpe said some of the coldest temperatures were expected on Wednesday, particularly in Victoria, NSW, Tasmania and the ACT, as a complex low pressure system with a series of cold fronts moved through the southeast. Southern inland NSW and the ACT are set to experience the 'most remarkable' cold weather on Wednesday, with the ACT in for one of the coldest days this year, a forecast maximum of 8C. 'It's going to be another very cold day for Canberra … in most year's there's only a few days below 10C each winter,' Mr Sharpe said. 'It's going to be one of those days on Wednesday.' Sydney can expect showers and a low of 13C on Tuesday before dropping to 11C on Wednesday. Melbourne is in for a week of showers, plummeting from a minimum temperature of 12C to 7C over Tuesday and Wednesday. Brisbane is also tipped for a week of rain, with minimum temperatures expected to stay around 15C before dropping to a respective 11C and 9C on Thursday and Friday. Perth is tipped for minimum temperatures around 6C this week, while Adelaide is expected to experience showers with minimum temperatures fluctuating between 6-9C over the course of the week. Hobart's Tuesday minimum temperature of 10C is expected to drop to 4C by Thursday, with showers tipped through the week. A minimum temperature of 1C is forecast in Canberra on Wednesday before -3C minimums on Thursday and Friday. Darwin appears to be the place to be this week, with minimum temperatures in the low 20s through much of the week with a bit of sun expected.
Sky News AU
16-06-2025
- Climate
- Sky News AU
Sydney wakes up to coldest morning following stormy Sunday while snow looks to fall over country's southeast
Sydneysiders woke up to their coldest morning since last winter seeing frosty and foggy conditions across the suburbs while wet conditions in the country's southeast look to bring more snow for ski resorts. While no wet weather looks to strike the Harbour City, clear conditions have brought the mercury down seeing plenty of frost. Sky News Meteorologist Rob Sharpe said the storm system which passed on Sunday has seen conditions dry out resulting in foggy and frosty conditions. 'Many suburbs through the west of Sydney were actually quite foggy this morning and over inland parts of New South Wales there was plenty of frost as well with thick frost particularly around Orange,' he told 'Sydney got down to 6.4C this morning which is the coldest since last winter. 'Whilst in Orange it was -5.6C which is their coldest temperature in two years with thick frost.' Sydney's average June temperature range is 9-17C, seeing Monday morning three degrees below the normal average. This comes after Sydney experienced an afternoon thunderstorm blitz on Sunday. Storms swept through with light showers totalling to 7mm for the city, Central Coast and Illawarra areas. 'We saw a series of thunderstorms come through late yesterday that was not due to the warmth of the day like you would expect through spring and summer, but it was due to the cold air in the upper levels of the atmosphere, because warm air rises and it rises much more freely if the air above it is remarkably chilly and that was the case yesterday,' Sharpe said. On Sunday just after 4.30pm lightning threats suspended an NRL game between the South Sydney Rabbitohs and the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs at Accor Stadium, in Sydney's west. In a rarity for the competition, the game was called off with just under nine minutes remaining until halftime due to safety reasons. Players and referees were sent to the changerooms for 28 minutes until the game resumed. Meanwhile, in the country's southeast a wet weather system looks to feed rain over the next 24 hours, expected to produce snow for ski fields over the next two days. About 10 to 20cm is likely for most alpine resorts with most snowfall expected on Tuesday. 'Most of this is coming tomorrow with snow as low as about thousand metres I would suspect for Victoria,' Sharpe said. 'It's going to be fairly chilly, it's a fairly standard front and low-pressure system moving through and it's pretty much the only round this week for the wet weather in the south-east.'
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Why China's rare-earth export restrictions threaten new-car production
China's restriction on exports of rare earths and magnets threatens to shut down vehicle and parts assembly in the coming weeks, industry executives and analysts said. The materials are crucial for a wide range of automotive components — from motors and sensors used in electric vehicles to automatic transmissions and speakers. The auto industry, like other sectors, is heavily reliant on China for the rare earths and magnets used in those parts, and companies have said securing the materials has become exceptionally difficult since China restricted exports in April in response to U.S. tariffs. The auto industry, already grappling with other tariff impacts, is now on the brink of its third major supply chain shock this decade, following the pandemic and the microchip shortage. Some industry executives are bracing for the rare-earth restrictions to have an impact comparable to the semiconductor shortage, which caused carmakers to cut more than 17 million vehicles from production schedules in 2021 through 2023, according to an estimate by AutoForecast Solutions. 'The impact will be much larger than people are anticipating,' said Rob Sharpe, senior vice president of sales and marketing for supplier Astemo Americas, at a June 6 press event. Read more: Live updates on tariff news and impacts Interactive map: Auto manufacturing sites in Canada, the U.S. and Mexico Here, Automotive News breaks down the growing rare-earth crisis and how the auto industry is responding to it. Rare earths are a group of 17 heavy metals used by industries in catalysts and magnets. Demand for the metals has grown over the years because of their applications in advanced technologies, including magnets that can operate in extreme heat. In addition to automotive, other major sectors that rely on rare earths include consumer electronics, aerospace, semiconductors and energy, as well as defense contractors. Rare-earth magnets are crucial for the auto industry and are used in a wide range of parts and systems. EVs and hybrids are particularly exposed to rare-earth magnet shortages in large part because of their use in electric motors. 'The main powertrain mechanism of an EV is a bunch of high-powered, high-energy magnets that move those cars,' said Dean Evans, co-founder of rare-earth recycling company Evolution Metals and Technologies, on a June 10 episode of the Daily Drive podcast. But traditional internal combustion vehicles also have parts that contain rare earths and magnets. Automatic transmissions, throttle bodies, alternators, sensors, seat belts, speakers, lights, power steering and cameras include rare earths and magnets, according to a May 9 letter industry groups MEMA and the Alliance for Automotive Innovation sent to Trump administration officials. On April 4, China restricted the export of seven medium and heavy rare-earth metals: samarium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, lutetium, scandium and yttrium. It now requires companies to obtain special approval to export them. The move was part of China's response to tariffs the Trump administration placed on imports of Chinese products in April. Trade tensions boiled over in the ensuing days, with both the U.S. and China raising effective tariff rates on products from the other country as high as 145 percent. China and the U.S. reached a deal on May 12 that lowered tariff rates for 90 days as the two governments looked to reach a broader deal. White House officials expected exports of rare earths and magnets to be freed up as a result of the deal, but license approvals out of China remain sluggish. Each side has accused the other of violating the trade truce. The restrictions have greatly reduced automakers' and suppliers' access to rare earths, but China has reportedly issued some export licenses. According to a June 9 Reuters report, China granted temporary export licenses to rare-earth suppliers for the Detroit 3, some of which are valid for six months. It was not known what quantity or which items are covered by the approvals, Reuters reported. China's Ministry of Commerce has also said it is willing to fast-track approval of rare-earth exports for 'eligible users" in the European Union. China controls about 65 percent of global mining and 88 percent of refining of rare earths, according to a May 27 analysis by Morgan Stanley. But for certain metals such as terbium that the auto industry uses for magnets in motors, China refines virtually all global supply. According to the Center for Strategic & International Studies bipartisan think tank, China accounts for 99 percent of global heavy rare-earth processing. 'China has developed advanced processing technologies and has kept this expertise closely guarded through licensing and export controls,' S&P Global Mobility wrote in a May 1 report. Other countries, including the U.S., are looking to boost domestic extraction and processing of rare-earth metals to become less dependent on China. But building up those capabilities will take years, leaving countries vulnerable to geopolitical and trade risks in the meantime, experts said. Some auto manufacturers have already been forced to shut down production. Ford idled an assembly plant in Chicago for a week in May because of a shortage of rare-earth metals used to make brake boosters. Meanwhile, several supplier plants in Europe were shut down in June because of the export restrictions, according to the CLEPA trade group, which represents European parts makers. In a June 4 statement, CLEPA said only about a quarter of its members' export license applications have been approved by the Chinese government since April. 'Procedures are opaque and inconsistent across provinces, with some licenses denied on procedural grounds and others requiring disclosure of IP-sensitive information,' the trade group said. Executives and analysts expect the number of supplier factories impacted by the issue to grow in the coming days and weeks, leading to more assembly plant shutdowns. 'There are so many magnets and rare earths in vehicles that, just statistically, there will be one or the other component that will not be able to be shipped, so the car cannot be built,' said Mathias Miedreich, the head of German supplier giant ZF's electrified powertrain technology division, at a June 3 media briefing. Automakers and suppliers are scrambling to find alternative sources for materials, but options are limited or sometimes impossible to find given China's grip on the market. Some automakers and suppliers are looking into shifting parts production to China because completed components containing the metals and magnets are not subject to the export restrictions. 'If it's in an assembly, you don't have an issue,' Sharpe said. 'You'll have to pay a tariff on it, but at least you'll get the product.' Suppliers are also examining ways to take rare-earth magnets out of products they make, though Sharpe said that often leads to performance degradation. And any changes companies settle on will require them to go through additional validation and testing, he said. 'There are some solutions, but it's not near term, because there's validation and prototypes and a lot of work that goes into changing those parts,' Sharpe said. U.S. and Chinese officials met in London on June 9 and June 10 for a round of trade discussions. Gaining more access to China's rare-earth materials and magnets was a top priority for U.S. negotiators entering the meetings. There was no news of any deals as of press time, though U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told reporters on June 10 that talks with China were 'going well.' Michael Martinez contributed to this report. Have an opinion about this story? Tell us about it and we may publish it in print. Click here to submit a letter to the editor.
Sky News AU
09-06-2025
- Climate
- Sky News AU
Frost set to cover southern Queensland and beyond as chilly mornings expected for many over next seven days
Large areas of southern Queensland and beyond could wake up to frost this week, as chilly overnight lows are felt across the nation. The beginning of the week has seen alpine resorts blanketed with snow off the back of a low-pressure system affecting the south-east. Sky News Meteorologist Rob Sharpe said on Monday the low-pressure system would be 'moving away' from the country in the coming days and chilly mornings for many Australians are expected in its wake. Cold overnight lows are set to generate frost across many regions over the next week and 'little pockets of frost around the place' forecast to arrive on Tuesday morning are expected again on Wednesday, the Sky News Meteorologist explained. 'Southern Queensland, virtually every night of the week, we're going to have areas of frost in that region,' Sharpe said. 'But for the south-east, we'll start to see it from Wednesday and it will become much more common place Thursday and into the second half of the week, where we'll have widespread frosts.' Frost is looking likely to cover large parts of Victoria, southern and central New South Wales and Tasmania on Friday and large parts of Australia will remain frosty on Saturday and Sunday, he added. 'So, these cold nights, they are here to stay for the next seven nights, but beyond that it may become a little bit more mild with some warmer weather potentially on the way,' Sharpe said. Meanwhile, Sharpe said ski fields are not set to see much more snow in the coming week, with Mt Buller only expected to receive 6cm of snow over the next seven days. 'The key story here is the overnight lows. We've got a great snow base now and it's going to be solidified and topped up by snowmaking every single night through the next seven days, so that is some very promising news there,' he said. Mt Hotham has been forecast to receive 9cm of snow over the next seven days, while 8cm is expected at Perisher. Amidst the chilly conditions being felt in the southeast, the Bureau of Meteorology on Monday issued a warning for sheep graziers in several of areas of NSW and the Australian Capital Territory. Cold temperatures, rainfall and westerly winds are expected into Tuesday in areas including the Snowy Mountains, Southern Tablelands, Northern Tablelands, Central Tablelands, Illawarra, and parts of the Mid North Coast, the warning said. 'There is a risk of losses of lambs and sheep exposed to these conditions,' the BOM added. Among the capital cities, the coldest temperature forecast for Tuesday, according to the BOM, was in Canberra, where a low of –1C and a high of 13 was projected. Sydney was expected to see a low of 10C and a maximum temperature of 18C on Tuesday, while a low of 8C and a high of 14C was forecast for Melbourne. In Brisbane, a low of 8C and a high of 19C was expected on Tuesday, while Adelaide was forecast to reach 17C and drop to a low of 8C and Hobart was expected to see a low of 8C and a high of 13C. Comparatively warmer temperatures were forecast for Perth and Darwin, with a high of 21C and a low of 10C expected for Western Australia's capital and a maximum temperature of 29C, and a minimum of 20C, expected in Darwin.
