About this time Wragge, at the suggestion of the Postmaster General for Queensland, had begun to explore the practicability of issuing long-term weather forecasts on the basis of the Bruckner cycle and the sunspot period, on which Wragge had already done some experimentation. As a member of Wragge's staff, Jones was called upon to assist in these studies, and as the years went on he developed such enthusiasm for the work, that it became his life's principal concern.

In 1923 Jones began issuing long-range weather forecasts, for which he was to become famous. His forecasts were based on astronomical observations and the repetition of weather cycles and although they were never proved, during his lifetime (and since), to be founded on a correct theory, they gained for him a big following among primary producers.

Agitation for official recognition of Jones's forecasting methods persisted to such an extent, that in 1954 the Federal Minister for the Interior established a committee to conduct a Departmental investigation into Jones's activities and claims. This committee had shown that Jones's forecasts had only a 50 per cent chance of being correct.

Bureau of Meteorology