The Queensland Divisional Office

In 1937 A. S. (Stan) Richards had been transferred from the Bureau's Central Office in Melbourne to take over the position of Divisional Meteorologist from the long-serving George Bond. Employed by Clement Wragge in 1892 when aged 18, George had worked in that office for 45 years. Tommy Hartshorn, who also worked under Wragge, was still in the Divisional Office during the war. In most States there were former employees of the colonial meteorological services who became members of the Bureau in 1908, some remaining in the Bureau until 1947.

The most critical responsibility of the Divisional Office was the prediction and warning of tropical cyclones. Flood warning was also a major responsibility.

As in the other Divisional Offices war's end saw an influx of younger meteorologists with higher academic qualifications than most pre-war meteorologists and with more modern ideas. These included Arch Shields, Vic Bahr, Allan Brunt and Allen Bath.

One of the features of the Queensland and other Divisional Offices was the development of a climatological section to provide information on the climate of individual regions. These sections advised a wide range of customers in primary and secondary industry.

Queensland had the distinction of having a well known private long-range forecaster, Inigo Jones, who issued forecasts for up to 12 month in advance. A certain vagueness in the wording of forecasts and the occasional spectacular success of his predictions earned him a wide group of subscribers to his long-range predictions, especially among the rural community. A number of expert committees commissioned by the Commonwealth Government to report on Inigo Jones' long-range forecasts concluded that they showed no evidence of skill.

Bureau of Meteorology