New Video : BOM Wasteland

5 Responses to New Video : BOM Wasteland

1. Col Andrews says:

   September 3, 2019 at 9:26 pm

   Tony,
   It would be great to see an alternate Australian Temperature average to make the fiddling BoM squirm, you should get together with Ken and see what you 2 can come up with!
   https://kenskingdom.wordpress.com/

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2. Graeme No.3 says:

   September 4, 2019 at 11:30 am

   As far as I know there were no temperature stations in Australia before 1858 (Sydney). The press reported the movement of the Stephenson screen in Melbourne to another site (both in the gardens) in 1869, so started some time before that.
   Adelaide had some records back in 1858 but systematic collection waited on the completion of the various overland telegraphs (Adelaide – Victoria system, Adelaide – NSW system, Adelaide – Darwin, and Adelaide to Eucla (WA)) by Sir Charles Todd, but by 1870 reasonably wide coverage of southern Australia was possible.
   Todd’s meteorological plan, which he had submitted in 1856, depended on a network of observation stations which were required to report daily to the observatory. The telegraph system was the answer; he trained his own observers, including interested private individuals. Growth was slow initially and it was not until 1860 that the observatory was ready with the necessary instruments and fourteen selected stations. As the telegraph system expanded so did the meteorological stations, with a greater impetus ten years later when post offices came under Todd’s control.
   One of Todd’s legacies is the 63 volume Weather Folio collection covering the period 1879–1909. These volumes have been digitally imaged by volunteers of the Australian Meteorological Society in conjunction with the South Australian Regional Office of the Australian Bureau of Meteorology. Atmospheric pressure data from these journals has been digitised and sent to the NOAA for inclusion in the International Surface Pressure Databank as part of the ACRE project.
   In the early 1880s Todd and his staff at the West Terrace Observatory in Adelaide were drawing inter-continental weather charts that had greater geographical reach than any other jurisdiction in the world. Todd’s ability to pull together the individual threads of technology, weather science, and a widely dispersed group of weather observers put him in the forefront of the profession. His chief mentor in this field was James Glaisher, one of the founders of the science of meteorology. Todd became a Fellow of the Royal Society for his pioneering work on climate.
   When my father was sent to SA he found, even 30 years after Todd’s death, his reputation was of a stickler for the truth, and he expected a high standard from those under him.

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3. Graeme No.3 says:

   September 4, 2019 at 11:58 am

   Adelaide West Terrace was the original site of the Observatory, Weather Bureau (until 1973) and (slightly relocated) a new station in the parklands. It was on the ‘weather side’ of Adelaide city exposed to the SW & S winds that dominate Adelaide’s weather. Temperature readings should date back to (at least) 1860.
   The move to Kent Town (a light industrial and commercial suburb to the east) resulted in warmer temperature readings.
   “By 1927 Adelaide’s aviation needs had grown considerably. The site of today’s Adelaide Parafield Airport was acquired and progressively developed. By 1941 the State’s aviation needs had outgrown Parafield. The West Beach site was chosen for Adelaide Airport. The new airport began the first regular transport services in February 1955”.
   I remember as a boy driving through Parafield, then mostly open fields, and it was hotter than the Adelaide suburbs when we reached them.

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4. Bill in Oz says:

   September 5, 2019 at 2:34 am

   Ummmm ? Tony I think we already know that BOM means the Bureau of Misinformation.

   And this series of posts about Australia’s climate illustrates that as well.

   But to jam so many posts in such a short period of time, gives us little time for thinking and digesting all this info.

   I prefer Ken’s approach of just two posts a day examining BOM’s network of weather stations. he discovered that many are not compliant with he BOM’s own guidelines for all it’s stations. There are 74 so far.One of them is Deniliquin, the data for which you use in one of your posts here.

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5. John Haller says:

   September 5, 2019 at 4:00 am

   Hi Tony, My suggestion for your next musical excursion into the BOM, if there is a next excursion, is Queen’s A Night at The Opera because it starts and ends with the lyric “Anyway the wind blows, doesn’t really matter to me” BOM could have written this….maybe.

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