Storm News
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Australian Weather Mailing List Archives: 11th November 1998

From: "Nick Sykes" 
To: 
Subject: Re: aussie-weather: Storm Chasers Australia!!! Proposal to become an Incorporated Assoc.
Date: Wed, 11 Nov 1998 00:02:47 +1100
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Great idea Paul, count me in.

An organization that unites all the weather loving people of Australia
together can only be a good thing. Hell if we could only get the BOM on
board and make it more official maybe they will give us radar access for
free.

Nick

Weather is all around you, feel it's force.

ICQ-19704370

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From: "Kevin Phyland" 
To: aussie-weather at world.std.com
Subject: Re: aussie-weather: Job Opportunity
Date: Tue, 10 Nov 1998 05:06:05 PST
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Right.

Where was THIS fifteen years ago?

K.

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>Subject: aussie-weather: Job Opportunity
>From: "Mark Hardy" 
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>
>For any meteorologists out there with itchy feet. This may be of 
interest,
>This advertisement in Saturday's Australian.
>Mark
>_________________________________________________________________
>
>Position: Media Meteorologist
>
>Our young and dynamic company specialises in media weather services. An
>exciting new contract means we are ready to employ Australia's most
>promising meteorologist in a key support position. The successful 
applicant
>will be an experienced weather forecaster and ideally will have 
experience
>working with the media.
>
>Essential
>Science degree with meteorological qualifications.
>At least 3 years weather forecasting experience.
>A broad and thorough understanding of the weather issues facing 
Australian
>agri-business industries.
>Excellent computer skills.
>Ideally
>Excellent written and oral communication skills.
>Experience working in the television media industry.
>A working knowledge of commonly used PC applications including Excel,
>Photoshop and Illustrator.
>
>An attractive salary package will be offered commensurate with 
knowledge and
>experience.
>Written applications are to be received by Monday November 23 1998.
>Inquiries and applications to;
>Mark Hardy
>The Weather Company
>111 Jones Street Ultimo NSW 2007
>
>Fax: 02 9280 1882
>Or by email to,
>mhardy at magna.com.au

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From: "dpn" 
To: 
Subject: aussie-weather: Storm Chasers Australia
Date: Tue, 10 Nov 1998 22:02:42 +1100
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Just been chatting to Paul Moss re his storm chasers idea I think it
deserves all our support. I am keen to help in any way. Lets get this thing
happening. Dane Newman 

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Subject: Re: aussie-weather: Storm Chasers Australia!!! Proposal to beco
Date: Wed, 11 Nov 98 08:35:24 +1000
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From: mildad 
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Hi Paul and everyone,

What a great idea and letter.

My two cents worth is below.
>
>Name
Australian Society of Storm Chasers (ASSC)
>Date, time & place of meeting
Probably depends on membership but, since it will be a national society, 
I guess it might be at a different location each year to make things fair.
>How much should membership cost?
$30 which is enough not to scare people but also enough to help get 
things going
>What should U get for it?
As Michael B said membership and a publication like storm news - e.g. 
bi-monthly during the season and once over the autumn/winter, social 
events.
>Any other comments?
Annual chase tour might be good, perhaps if there is enough interest in 
each of the states maybe there could be state branches so that people may 
be able to get together more frequently. 
>People you would like to see on the executive??
Perhaps some of the 'founding fathers' of storm chasing in Australia who 
you have mentioned should occupy the positions which might consist of:
(i) President - current
(ii) Vice president - outgoing (only after first year)
(iii) President elect - incumbent
(iv) Treasuerer
(v) Publication editor
Perhaps people could be nominated and then elected e.g. biannually to 
these positions at an annual general meeting which might be in summer 
(when most peole get time off and in the middle of the storm season).


Basically I am glad that the energy has been put into this, it's a great 
idea. Dont forget as a formal society we may be able have more chance to 
attract sponsorship - which might cover things like free use of radar and 
mobile connections to download data when on chases (Michael S!).

Anyway Paul and Jimmy and whoever else put energy into this  - well done.

David C

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Date: Wed, 11 Nov 1998 10:45:34 +1100
From: Michael Scollay 
Organization: Telstra Strategy & Research
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To: aussie-weather at world.std.com
Subject: Re: aussie-weather: Hello from NZ
Sender: aussie-weather-approval at world.std.com
Reply-To: aussie-weather at world.std.com

Ben Tichborne wrote:
> ...
> I was also wondering how often, and how late in
> the season has snow fallen in southeast Queeensland?.

Welcome to the group, Ben. I'm another storm freak of the frozen kind
also. Call it something like "Michael's Feeling For Snow":-) It's my
love of weather & climate to predicting when it will happen and how
much. Such are the fickle winter conditions in Oz.

As for SE QLD, some locals I know remember old word-of-mouth stories
of the sugar cane crop being written off by freezing conditions with
snow in the ranges some time in November -a long time ago-. It could
be the year I mention below (1898). I'll see if I can narrow down the
precise date and delve into the weather archives to confirm. Perhaps
other people in this group know whether such archives as I dug up in
UNSW over a decade ago have been placed on-line.

In the book entitled "The Green Mountains and Cullenbenong" (?) by
Bernard O'Reilly(?) of O'Reilly's lodge fame in the Lamington
Mountains of SE QLD, he mentions a massive snowfall in the Green
Mountains area (specifically a local name for the area in the Megalong
Valley just west of the Blue Mountains in NSW) around 1898 that
cut-off the entire area for over a week. It was said that up to 1m of
snow fell in the Blue Mountains around Blackheath & Katoomba with
somewhat less extending towards Parramatta and Sydney. Some 6 inches
in Parrammatta was reported and a couple in the Sydney CBD of that
same day during the height of the storm. I confirmed this event in
broad terms using the archives mentioned above. I must stress that
records of such events are often prone to exaggeration but the event
still checks out.

I have personnally experienced massive snowfalls in the Snowy
Mountains on several occasions. 1m of snow on the ground after one
snow storm is a massive amount of snow in anyone's terms. Oz snow is
about twice to three times as "dense" as Utah or Colorado snow on
average. I've experienced both types, so it's heavy going in Oz by
comparison. To give you an idea, Perisher Valley this year recorded
over 4m of snowfall (400mm equivalent) and somewhere between 900 and
1200mm of total precipitation (where are the cumulative records?). In
a good year, you could expect 80 to 90% of that precipiation to fall
as snow which would equate to a massive year equating to about 9m of
snowfall (1981 was 7.7m). Unfortunately, very warm and wet conditions
in between the dumps eroded the cover enormously. These warm
conditions were worse in NZ, almost eliminating decent snow cover for
all but the last few weeks of the season:-( Enough written...1998 a
year to analyse. Funny, now to mention it, it could have been a repeat
of 1898 had it been colder!

Michael Scollay       mailto:michael.scollay at telstra.com.au

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From: Blair Trewin 
Subject: Re: aussie-weather: Hello from NZ
To: aussie-weather at world.std.com
Date: Wed, 11 Nov 1998 11:13:15 +1100 (EST)
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> 
> Ben Tichborne wrote:
> > ...
> > I was also wondering how often, and how late in
> > the season has snow fallen in southeast Queeensland?.
> 
> Welcome to the group, Ben. I'm another storm freak of the frozen kind
> also. Call it something like "Michael's Feeling For Snow":-) It's my
> love of weather & climate to predicting when it will happen and how
> much. Such are the fickle winter conditions in Oz.
> 
> As for SE QLD, some locals I know remember old word-of-mouth stories
> of the sugar cane crop being written off by freezing conditions with
> snow in the ranges some time in November -a long time ago-. It could
> be the year I mention below (1898). I'll see if I can narrow down the
> precise date and delve into the weather archives to confirm. Perhaps
> other people in this group know whether such archives as I dug up in
> UNSW over a decade ago have been placed on-line.
This doesn't make sense directly - sugar cane is not grown in the
mountains - but one could imagine snow in the mountains and damaging
frost on the coast arising from the same cold outbreak (the July 
1965 scenario). November seems very late, but instrumental records
from that period are hard to track down - I wouldn't rule it out
totally. 

The most notable late-season cold outbreak in SE Queensland in recent 
times was in September 1969. Wallangarra recorded a max of 6.7 on
the 22nd, which I would think would have meant a little snow, at 
least, on higher ground. There has been no max below 10 in October,
November or December at any Queensland station since the start of
digital records (generally 1957 or 1965).
> In the book entitled "The Green Mountains and Cullenbenong" (?) by
> Bernard O'Reilly(?) of O'Reilly's lodge fame in the Lamington
> Mountains of SE QLD, he mentions a massive snowfall in the Green
> Mountains area (specifically a local name for the area in the Megalong
> Valley just west of the Blue Mountains in NSW) around 1898 that
> cut-off the entire area for over a week. It was said that up to 1m of
> snow fell in the Blue Mountains around Blackheath & Katoomba with
> somewhat less extending towards Parramatta and Sydney. Some 6 inches
> in Parrammatta was reported and a couple in the Sydney CBD of that
> same day during the height of the storm. I confirmed this event in
> broad terms using the archives mentioned above. I must stress that
> records of such events are often prone to exaggeration but the event
> still checks out.
How certain are you of the date? I ask because I have read of a major
snowfall (1m+) in the Blayney area in July 1900 and wonder if it is
the same event being referred to. A check of the Sydney temperature
records (which are available digitally since 1859) reveals that the
lowest temperature recorded in Sydney during the 1898 winter was 4.7,
which seems too warm for snow, but 17 July 1900 had a min of 4.1 and
a max of 11.2, which seems a more likely combination, for snow 
showers at least. 
> I have personnally experienced massive snowfalls in the Snowy
> Mountains on several occasions. 1m of snow on the ground after one
> snow storm is a massive amount of snow in anyone's terms. Oz snow is
> about twice to three times as "dense" as Utah or Colorado snow on
> average. I've experienced both types, so it's heavy going in Oz by
> comparison. To give you an idea, Perisher Valley this year recorded
> over 4m of snowfall (400mm equivalent) and somewhere between 900 and
> 1200mm of total precipitation (where are the cumulative records?). In
> a good year, you could expect 80 to 90% of that precipiation to fall
> as snow which would equate to a massive year equating to about 9m of
> snowfall (1981 was 7.7m). Unfortunately, very warm and wet conditions
> in between the dumps eroded the cover enormously. These warm
> conditions were worse in NZ, almost eliminating decent snow cover for
> all but the last few weeks of the season:-( Enough written...1998 a
> year to analyse. Funny, now to mention it, it could have been a repeat
> of 1898 had it been colder!
I wrote a piece in the AMOS Bulletin (June this year, from memory)
about a major snowfall in the Monaro region in June 1946 - this was 
notable, not only because of the snow itself (although it was very 
substantial - up to 1 metre in the Cooma area), but because of some
extraordinarily low maxima in the anticyclonic conditions that 
followed over the snow cover - Adaminaby recorded (unofficially, but
a poor exposure has little influence on low maxima) a max of -7 and
min of -16 on one day. The local papers of the time also referred
to a similar storm in the region on the day in June 1880 on which
Ned Kelly was captured. (Accounts of the Glenrowan siege itself 
refer to it being a clear and frosty night, which would be consistent
with a southerly flow on the back side of an east coast low - Glenrowan
being in a local rainshadow from that direction).

The optimal conditions for exceptional snowfalls in the Southern/
Central Tablelands seem to be a low off southern NSW with a ridge 
extending from Victoria to SE of Tasmania - 1946 followed this
classically. A traditional SW outbreak doesn't have enough moisture,
and the Southern Tablelands is sheltered from this direction (which
is why the Central Tablelands get more snow at comparable altitudes,
despite being further north). The low that caused the Gippsland 
floods this year might have delivered the goods, but the air 
wasn't cold enough.


Blair Trewin

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From: Blair Trewin 
Subject: Re: aussie-weather: RADAR!!!
To: aussie-weather at world.std.com
Date: Wed, 11 Nov 1998 11:30:34 +1100 (EST)
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> 
> Write a letter of complaint to Senator McDonald, I did, and was ignored of
> course.
It's actually Senator Hill now - changed since the election.
> I also wrote to every farming body I could find before last election, no
> luck there either. But keep pushing.
> 
> Michael
As has been said elsewhere in this thread, the decisions are mostly
political - and it could be a lot worse - you only need to look at
NZ or some of the European Met. Offices (notably Britain's) to see
that. As far as weather information provided to the Internet is
concerned, I'd say Australia is second (albeit a very distant second)
to the US, especially on longer-timescale climate information.

Much as it pains me to say something nice about them, the existence
of the National Party has probably stopped the Bureau from being
forced further down the commercial road. In 1993 the Liberals were
proposing the dismemberment and effective privatisation of the
Bureau, a la NZ. Before the 1996 election the Bureau had the good
sense to commission an external review of itself, which reported
just after the election and found that various areas of the Bureau
were under-funded. The incoming government gleefully blamed all of
this on their predecessors, which then meant in turn that they could
hardly impose major cuts in the slash-and-burn Budget of 1996. 

It may be of interest that the Bureau's Director (John Zillman) has
been one of the leading lights in the battle at WMO level to maintain
the free international exchange of data - this was under severe 
danger of collapse around 1995. It's bizarre (and sad in its own 
way) that a system that survived two world wars and the Cold War was
almost sacrificed on the altar of alleged economic rationalism.
(Also odd that there doesn't seem to be any connection between
the political leanings of a government and how commercial its
meteorological service is - most of the pressure to end free 
international exchange of data was comnig from Europe).

Blair Trewin

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Date: Wed, 11 Nov 1998 11:34:17 +1100
From: Michael Scollay 
Organization: Telstra Strategy & Research
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To: aussie-weather at world.std.com
Subject: Re: aussie-weather: Job Opportunity
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Mark Hardy wrote:
> 
> For any meteorologists out there with itchy feet. This may be of
> interest, This advertisement in Saturday's Australian.
> Mark
> _________________________________________________________________
> 
> Position: Media Meteorologist

What I find amusing about job adverts is the assumption that because
one has a degree with a particular bent e.g. Science with Met, then
one would be good at liaising with the media. Some of the best people
for a task may not have the necessary qualifications but have enough
knowledge, a keen interest and an appropriate manner for effective
communication. I would have thought that the job spec would rather
read something like...

"The BoM would like a person to liaise with the media. This person
must be able to understand the implications of public released
information provided by the BoM and interpret this information using
terms appropriate to the media and public. The person must been keenly
interested in the subject since the focus is to ensure a keen interest
and total support by the media and public in the products and services
provided by the BoM."

What I am highlighting is a difference in emphasis. The fact that a
position will exist is an excellent way forward. Without enlisting the
support of the media and public, any futher reduction of BoM services
due to Government policy will simply go unnoticed. Needless to say, a
crisis is approaching since the BoM, by executing short-sighted
revenue and cost-cutting policies, risks alienating the very people
that it needs the support of. What the BoM doesn't want is people to
say "stuff the BoM, I can get better service from the US NCEP" (or
yahoo:-).

Climate forecasting is at the verge of being more predictable than the
economy. This has the makings of a far-reaching strategy. The BoM is
in a prime position to add local value and contribute to world-wide
efforts for "the definitive climate & weather forecasting model". This
is surely needed to assess the true impact of human activity on the
world environment in particular, closer to home. This is where the BoM
can add real future value, hence becoming a core part of future
ecomomic models by reliably predicting the consequences of badly
considered investments at an environmentally-mapped economic
cost-benefit level. This puts an economic value on the environment
which is something not well understood or communicated currently to
our ultimate peril. What this strategy ensures is prosperity for the
BoM made possible through better media and public liaison. This comes
back to the choice of person for the job.

That's the end of my soap-box on this subject for today...I hope you
get my point(s):-)

Michael Scollay       mailto:michael.scollay at telstra.com.au

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Date: Wed, 11 Nov 1998 10:53:50 +0800
From: Michael Fewings 
Organization: Edith Cowan Uni
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To: Aussie Weather 
Subject: aussie-weather: Australian Society of Storm Chasers (ASSC)
Sender: aussie-weather-approval at world.std.com
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Mike from Perth here,

Thanks David for the subject title.
Greg Browning, Jimmy Deguara, Paul Mossman, me (Michael Fewings),
Anthony Cornelius, Michael Thompson, Michael Bath, Matt Smith and David
Croan have all voiced approval and given excellent ideas over a society
in a quick scan through the emails to this group (sorry if I have missed
anyone).
Is there anyone else who is in?
And is there anyone who can get things started by organising a group
meeting where ideas can be discussed and roles appointed. I will help
and put my hand up for jobs regarding web page design, domain name
registration and hosting. I also don't mind being treasurer but only one
of these two jobs would be great.
As far as I see it. A society that gets us a major discount on radar
services from the bom is only a good thing.
But of course it is more than that.

I have nominated myself for two jobs and where do I send the membership
money?
Who is next?

Mike

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Date: Wed, 11 Nov 1998 11:50:11 +0800
To: aussie-weather at world.std.com
From: Jacob 
Subject: Re: aussie-weather: Hot weather in Perth
Sender: aussie-weather-approval at world.std.com
Reply-To: aussie-weather at world.std.com



We've already reached the forecast maxmimum here in Perth, right now at the
city site (at 11:40am WST) its 36.3C, with North-east winds at 17km/h.

Hard to say when this seabreaze is going to come in, but we could get to
the old century (37.8C) if the north-east winds stays for a bit longer. 

Jacob

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Date: Wed, 11 Nov 1998 15:07:47 +1100 (EST)
From: Paul Graham 
To: Aussie Weather 
Subject: aussie-weather: Radar Access...
Reply-Receipt: pgraham1 at extro.ucc.su.oz.au
Reply-Read: pgraham1 at mail.usyd.edu.au
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Hi everyone,
	I, like everyone else here, would love to be able to get cheap
radar access (nice if it were free).  I think the best approach would be
for those of us who are interested to share an account thus sharing the
cost. Michael Bath suggested this to me a while ago but there were not
enough of us to cut the price down significantly.  What do people think
about this arrangement?  Incidently, if the Bureau decides to change the
security arrangement by issuing individual accounts, we will have to write
some code to log in, capture the images and save them to a Web or FTP site
which we can protect with a password.
	- Paul G.
----------------------------
Paul Graham
m3052695 at hardy.ocs.mq.edu.au
----------------------------

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Date: Wed, 11 Nov 1998 15:09:07 +1100 (EST)
From: Paul Graham 
To: Aussie Weather 
Subject: aussie-weather: Severe Storm Advice...
Reply-Receipt: pgraham1 at extro.ucc.su.oz.au
Reply-Read: pgraham1 at mail.usyd.edu.au
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Reply-To: aussie-weather at world.std.com

TOP PRIORITY FOR IMMEDIATE BROADCAST

SEVERE THUNDERSTORM ADVICE
BUREAU OF METEOROLOGY
NEW SOUTH WALES REGIONAL OFFICE
Issued at 1338 on Wednesday the 11th of November 1998

This advice affects people in the following weather districts:
UPPER WESTERN east of Wilcannia
LOWER WESTERN east of the Darling River 

Thunderstorms are forecast within the advice area this afternoon. 
Some of these are expected to be severe, bringing large hailstones,
destructive winds and very heavy rainfall.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: "Ben Quinn" 
To: 
Subject: Re: aussie-weather: Radar Access...
Date: Wed, 11 Nov 1998 14:23:26 -0800
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>Hi everyone,
> I, like everyone else here, would love to be able to get cheap
>radar access (nice if it were free).  I think the best approach would be
>for those of us who are interested to share an account thus sharing the
>cost. Michael Bath suggested this to me a while ago but there were not
>enough of us to cut the price down significantly.  What do people think
>about this arrangement?  Incidently, if the Bureau decides to change the
>security arrangement by issuing individual accounts, we will have to write
>some code to log in, capture the images and save them to a Web or FTP site
>which we can protect with a password.
> - Paul G.
>----------------------------
>Paul Graham
>m3052695 at hardy.ocs.mq.edu.au

 
I'll be in that for sure ..

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: "Ben Quinn" 
To: 
Subject: Re: aussie-weather: Storm Chasers Australia!!! Proposal to beco
Date: Wed, 11 Nov 1998 14:55:11 -0800
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Reply-To: aussie-weather at world.std.com

>Hi Paul and everyone,
>
>What a great idea and letter.
>
>My two cents worth is below.
>>
>>Name
>Australian Society of Storm Chasers (ASSC)
>>Date, time & place of meeting
>Probably depends on membership but, since it will be a national society,
>I guess it might be at a different location each year to make things fair.
>>How much should membership cost?
>$30 which is enough not to scare people but also enough to help get
>things going
>>What should U get for it?
>As Michael B said membership and a publication like storm news - e.g.
>bi-monthly during the season and once over the autumn/winter, social
>events.
>>Any other comments?
>Annual chase tour might be good, perhaps if there is enough interest in
>each of the states maybe there could be state branches so that people may
>be able to get together more frequently.
>>People you would like to see on the executive??
>Perhaps some of the 'founding fathers' of storm chasing in Australia who
>you have mentioned should occupy the positions which might consist of:
>(i) President - current
>(ii) Vice president - outgoing (only after first year)
>(iii) President elect - incumbent
>(iv) Treasuerer
>(v) Publication editor
>Perhaps people could be nominated and then elected e.g. biannually to
>these positions at an annual general meeting which might be in summer
>(when most peole get time off and in the middle of the storm season).
>
>
>Basically I am glad that the energy has been put into this, it's a great
>idea. Dont forget as a formal society we may be able have more chance to
>attract sponsorship - which might cover things like free use of radar and
>mobile connections to download data when on chases (Michael S!).
>
>Anyway Paul and Jimmy and whoever else put energy into this  - well done.
>
>David C
> +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+


There is an organisation in the US called "Skywarn" (www.skywarn.org), made
up of volunteer weather spotting groups around the country working together
with "The National Weather Service".  It is run by people with everyday jobs
and other committments. I think they communicate over Amatuer Radio, but i
dont see why you could not use the internet. Anyhows you can find out more
about them on their website, it sounds like a realy good idea to me.

l8tr

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Date: Tue, 10 Nov 1998 20:59:21 -0800 (PST)
From: Jimmy Deguara 
Subject: Re: aussie-weather: Severe Storm Advice...
To: aussie-weather at world.std.com
Sender: aussie-weather-approval at world.std.com
Reply-To: aussie-weather at world.std.com



I was expecting hailstorms in this lot. hope we get
some on Friday although tomorrow may be a chance....
storms that is.

Jimmy

---Paul Graham  wrote:
>
> TOP PRIORITY FOR IMMEDIATE BROADCAST
> 
> SEVERE THUNDERSTORM ADVICE
> BUREAU OF METEOROLOGY
> NEW SOUTH WALES REGIONAL OFFICE
> Issued at 1338 on Wednesday the 11th of November 1998
> 
> This advice affects people in the following weather
districts:
> UPPER WESTERN east of Wilcannia
> LOWER WESTERN east of the Darling River 
> 
> Thunderstorms are forecast within the advice area
this afternoon. 
> Some of these are expected to be severe, bringing
large hailstones,
> destructive winds and very heavy rainfall.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Tue, 10 Nov 1998 21:03:48 -0800 (PST)
From: Jimmy Deguara 
Subject: Re: aussie-weather: Australian Society of Storm Chasers (ASSC)
To: aussie-weather at world.std.com
Sender: aussie-weather-approval at world.std.com
Reply-To: aussie-weather at world.std.com

Hi Jimmy here.  had mentioned this to Paul Moss.. He
has done a great job to promote it. I hope this can
get done by the end of this year. Please do not drop
the subject and keep it going.

Meetings can be held in several centres. In AMOS,
meetings are held int he major cities. I would like
to involve everyone in meetings of some sort even if
it means we have a main meeting in different parts of
the state to include others.

Keep the idea going. When I finish my TAFE projects
and write my reports, I will get really involved in
setting this Society up.


Jimmy Deguara
---Michael Fewings  wrote:
>
> Mike from Perth here,
> 
> Thanks David for the subject title.
> Greg Browning, Jimmy Deguara, Paul Mossman, me
(Michael Fewings),
> Anthony Cornelius, Michael Thompson, Michael Bath,
Matt Smith and David
> Croan have all voiced approval and given excellent
ideas over a society
> in a quick scan through the emails to this group
(sorry if I have missed
> anyone).
> Is there anyone else who is in?
> And is there anyone who can get things started by
organising a group
> meeting where ideas can be discussed and roles
appointed. I will help
> and put my hand up for jobs regarding web page
design, domain name
> registration and hosting. I also don't mind being
treasurer but only one
> of these two jobs would be great.
> As far as I see it. A society that gets us a major
discount on radar
> services from the bom is only a good thing.
> But of course it is more than that.
> 
> I have nominated myself for two jobs and where do I
send the membership
> money?
> Who is next?
> 
> Mike

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From: "James Chambers" 
To: "Aussie Weather" 
Subject: aussie-weather: SCA
Date: Wed, 11 Nov 1998 15:32:15 +1000
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Hi everyone

I'm in full support with Paul - It is a fantastic idea.  As several people
have already said, meetings could be held in different locations each time
to keep it fair.  Initially I thought a good first meeting would be in
Northern NSW, say in Grafton/Lismore/Coffs Harbour area because in the usual
seasons they are severe t'storms hotspots.  This should be a good subject
for discussion tonight on the Weather Chat.  (Remember 9pm EDT)

Good onya Paul
-----------------------------------------------------------------
James Chambers
jamestorm at ozemail.com.au
The Brisbane and SE Qld Storm Site
http://www.ozemail.com.au/~jamestorm/bristorm.html

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: "James Chambers" 
To: "Aussie Weather" 
Subject: aussie-weather: ASSC
Date: Wed, 11 Nov 1998 15:45:13 +1000
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I meant to put ASSC - sounds better than SCA

.... Future severe storm situation (not now):

    Major severe thunderstorms are moving through SE Qld as we speak...for
more information we cross to Paul Mossman at the ASSC: "our network of
doppler radars has located several supercell thunderstorms with hook
echoes..."

It's a dream
-----------------------------------------------------------------
James Chambers
jamestorm at ozemail.com.au
The Brisbane and SE Qld Storm Site
http://www.ozemail.com.au/~jamestorm/bristorm.html

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Subject: Re: aussie-weather: Radar Access/Fri. chase...
Date: Wed, 11 Nov 98 18:40:35 +1000
X-Sender: mildad at mail.one.net.au
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From: mildad 
To: 
Sender: aussie-weather-approval at world.std.com
Reply-To: aussie-weather at world.std.com

>	I, like everyone else here, would love to be able to get cheap
>radar access (nice if it were free).  I think the best approach would be
>for those of us who are interested to share an account thus sharing the
>cost. Michael Bath suggested this to me a while ago but there were not
>enough of us to cut the price down significantly.  What do people think
>about this arrangement?  Incidently, if the Bureau decides to change the
>security arrangement by issuing individual accounts, we will have to write
>some code to log in, capture the images and save them to a Web or FTP site
>which we can protect with a password.
>	- Paul G.

This is a good idea Paul until we are all able to access RADAR from the 
BoM page for free..I am willing chip in ASAP.

Also I have taken a flex on Friday as things seem to be looking good at 
this stage - Ideally it would be good to chase Thursday, Friday and 
Saturday but I guess we will have to wait and see. If anyone else is not 
working/uni on Friday and wants to come along just drop me a message to 
this address or < David.Croan at agal.gov.au >. I will only be chasing 
within the greater Sydney area though.

Cheers 

David C

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Subject: Re: aussie-weather: Australian Society of Storm Chasers (ASSC)
Date: Wed, 11 Nov 98 20:02:24 +1000
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From: mildad 
To: 
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Reply-To: aussie-weather at world.std.com

>And is there anyone who can get things started by organising a group
>meeting where ideas can be discussed and roles appointed. I will help
>and put my hand up for jobs regarding web page design, domain name
>registration and hosting. I also don't mind being treasurer but only one
>of these two jobs would be great.
>As far as I see it. A society that gets us a major discount on radar
>services from the bom is only a good thing.
>But of course it is more than that.
>
>I have nominated myself for two jobs and where do I send the membership
>money?
>Who is next?
>
>Mike

Hi Mike and all,

I think the initial organising up until registering our society can be 
done over the mailing list. However, we also have to ascertain the level 
of interest beyond this mailing list. I would think that there would be 
quite a few people including storm spotters who don't use the internet 
who would be interested in joining the society. Maybe Jimmy, Michael 
James or other spotters may have a better idea of the extent of interest 
in thunderstorms outside of our list in the different states. I have 
noticed that a few people who are obviously interested in thunderstorms 
dont seem to send messages to the list (not sure if they're on it as I 
haven't checked the list of subscribers) -  I am pretty sure that both 
Paul Yole and Clive Hayword from Vic would be interested. There are also 
a few chasers listed as looking for partners on the Australian Severe 
Weather PAGE who don't seem to be on the list and also may be interested. 
Also some SES volunteers might have an interest in storms due to their 
work. If we could get contact details of these people and see if they're 
interested - it might help with the planning and organising. 

Might also be worth knowing if people have particular skills which may be 
of use in setting the society up.

Perhaps then what we need is to determine if the experienced chasers and 
enthusiasts we tentatively nominated to the executive board have the time 
and inclination for these positions  (e.g I know Jimmy has TAFE 
commitments for a little while), or others can nominate themselves such 
as Mike who I second as the society's first treasure. 

Once we have a core group, we can all input, they can direct and the rest 
of us can help.

After that, once we decide on the name we just register it.  I know that 
registering a business name in NSW costs $100 and requires giving the 
address where the business will be carried out and who the proprieters 
are. I am not sure what is required for a national society but if someone 
can chase this up over the phone perhaps we can soon go ahead with this 
(If it can be done at a NSW DFT I dont mind getting the forms sending it 
to whoever should be signing it and then lodging it)

Until Nov 25th when I do a final thesis seminar at uni, the prep for that 
and work (and hopefully storm chasing) occupies most of my time. However 
I would like to help in any way, particularly after then.

Cheers 

David C.

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Date: Wed, 11 Nov 1998 19:10:05 +1000
To: aussie-weather at world.std.com
From: steve baynham 
Subject: aussie-weather: ASSC
Sender: aussie-weather-approval at world.std.com
Reply-To: aussie-weather at world.std.com

hi,
its sooo exciting that we are finally doing something about ourselves!! i'd
like to get good up to date radar pictures from BoM!:) i'll be a part of
whatever is decided upon!
steve from gold coast

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: "Michael Thompson" 
To: 
Subject: Re: aussie-weather: Severe Storm Advice...
Date: Wed, 11 Nov 1998 20:15:38 +1100
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Reply-To: aussie-weather at world.std.com

I hope you get some Hailstones Jimmy. I know how much you love them.

Michael
-----Original Message-----
From: Jimmy Deguara 
To: aussie-weather at world.std.com 
Date: Wednesday, 11 November 1998 16:16
Subject: Re: aussie-weather: Severe Storm Advice...


>
>
>I was expecting hailstorms in this lot. hope we get
>some on Friday although tomorrow may be a chance....
>storms that is.
>
>Jimmy

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: disarm at braenet.com.au
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Date: Wed, 11 Nov 1998 22:51:24 +1100
To: aussie-weather at world.std.com
Subject: aussie-weather: top end storms
Sender: aussie-weather-approval at world.std.com
Reply-To: aussie-weather at world.std.com

see the storm activity up there today? i think darwin had about 4 or so
storms pass threw in 1 day!

cant wait to go up there and get away from here...the store caught on fire
tonight (a big sign out the front, some electrical problem) had to make a
000 call and 6 firetrucks and 5 police cars and 1 SES truck turned up!well
it was very exciting, but i dont think the boss who gets back from a month
long trip overseas tomorrow will see the funny side..
OH OH OH and as always, i carry my camera.. and got some GREAT pic's!once i
use the roll of film i get them scanned so you can all gawk at them.
so thats some excitment...
arg.................
Matt in sydney.

PS> and isnt it funny how the MEDIA got there BEFORE the fire trucks!!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

X-Originating-Ip: [203.37.41.20]
From: "Patrick Tobin" 
To: aussie-weather at world.std.com
Subject: Re: aussie-weather: Radar Access...
Date: Tue, 10 Nov 1998 22:51:08 PST
Sender: aussie-weather-approval at world.std.com
Reply-To: aussie-weather at world.std.com

I would also like to join in ... however we need to be aware of the 
following BOM copyright notice for subscription products and its 
possible implications for the proposed arrangement.

Patrick


Secondary Distribution of Bureau's Subscription Products

Observations
In addition to the summary observations on the free part of the Web, all 
current Australian observations are available via FTP and /or Web as a 
subscription service. These are currently available under temporary user 
id: test and password: test. It will eventually be accessed at a nominal 
cost (approximately $100 per year). The data sets have been set up for 
the express purpose of facilitating plotting for web or other graphical 
displays and therefore includes latitude and longitude. 

Other Registered User Subscription Products
Secondary distribution of other subscription products requires a formal 
secondary distribution agreement. 

>From: "Ben Quinn" 
>To: 
>Subject: Re: aussie-weather: Radar Access...
>
>>Hi everyone,
>> I, like everyone else here, would love to be able to get cheap
>>radar access (nice if it were free).  I think the best approach would 
be
>>for those of us who are interested to share an account thus sharing 
the
>>cost. Michael Bath suggested this to me a while ago but there were not
>>enough of us to cut the price down significantly.  What do people 
think
>>about this arrangement?  Incidently, if the Bureau decides to change 
the
>>security arrangement by issuing individual accounts, we will have to 
write
>>some code to log in, capture the images and save them to a Web or FTP 
site
>>which we can protect with a password.
>> - Paul G.
>>----------------------------
>>Paul Graham
>>m3052695 at hardy.ocs.mq.edu.au
>
> 
>I'll be in that for sure ..

Document: 981111.htm
Updated: 12th November, 1998

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