Post-War Meteorological Service for Aviation (continued)

The surge in domestic and international civil aviation from 1945 placed considerable strain on the Bureau and its aviation forecasters. Because of the lack of sophisticated technological aids for take-off and landing and in-flight navigation and because of the relatively low speeds and short range of the aircraft, weather conditions at airports and upper winds below about 15 000 feet en route were of critical importance for the safe, efficient and economical operation of both domestic and international airlines. In contrast, at the present time, aircraft operations are relatively independent of weather conditions.

H. N. Warren as Director of Meteorology had difficult decisions to make. It was obvious that meteorological services for civil aviation should be given the highest priority but with the return of many of his wartime staff to their pre-war occupations, qualified forecasters were in short supply. In addition to demands on his time to deal with aviation requirements he was keen to provide other meteorological and climatological services for a wide range of customers, agriculturalists, pastoralists, builders, businessmen, industrialists, the news media and the general public. He was also conscious of the need to improve Bureau facilities for observations of conditions near the Earth's surface and in the upper air, to make long-range provision for recruiting and training Bureau staff, to improve warning services for floods, bushfires, tropical cyclones and to ensure Bureau involvement in international cooperation in meteorology.

Bureau of Meteorology