George Grant Bond
Foreword
Introduction
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Conclusion
Register of Marks
Bibliography
References
Index
Search
Help
Contact us
The next big change for the Weather Bureau came in 1924 with the opening in Brisbane of the first A class Radio Station. This added a new dimension to the work of the Bureau, and a great deal more exposure to a critical public. Farmers and fishermen awaited the Weather Bulletins with avid interest, and the wider city public, with their livelihoods less vitally affected, were no less eager for assurance of a fine day for the Test Match, or for a weekend on the Bay. Deadlines had to be met by the Bureau for the 4QG news times, and there was even greater concern about wrong forecasts, especially the dramatically wrong ones that required prompt action. We well remember our father's occasional hasty phone calls to 4QG, when on waking, he found pouring rain when blue skies had been predicted, and it was necessary to prevent the announcement of a fine day being repeated to a scornful public on the morning news.
As usual, criticism of the Bureau—and occasional praise—appeared in the daily press of those years. In 1925, Weather Wise praised Mr G. G. Bond for 'The splendid way in which the weather news is presented in the press', and for 'His never failing courtesy to press men'.[19] Some time later came the comment 'Mr G. G. Bond, Commonwealth Meteorologist in Queensland, at all times takes special precautions to see that latest and reliable information is made available through 4QG, and even works through weekends when necessity demands'.[20]
But much more often it was criticism. A derisive letter in the Courier stung George Bond to reply next day. 'I wish to assure your correspondent that the Commonwealth Meteorological Bureau does not find the issuing of weather forecasts to be a joke.' He went on to say that, 'larger than 85 to 87% accuracy is not claimed by any Meteorological Service in the world—and that means that twelve to fifteen forecasts in every hundred, are either totally or partially incorrect'.[21]
People in Bright Sparcs - Bond, George Grant
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© Online Edition Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre and Bureau of Meteorology 2001
Published by Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre, using the Web Academic Resource Publisher
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