Breaking a World Record

It was an exciting week here at TWC, we were attempting to break a world record for the largest interactive weather report. The previous record held by the BBC, in the UK, who had 261 schools submit the temperature. To break the record we needed over 261 schools to submit a temperature reading from midday in their playground through to The Weather channel and we had to compile the data and broadcast the results. A project 6 months in the making, schools across Australia had been registering for months and vying to have the Weather Channel crew and senior meteorologist Dick Whittaker at their school to help them record the temperature. Wednesday 18th of August was the day marked down for the attempt and Dick Whittaker had flown to Rockhampton to help the students at Stanwell State Public School take the temperature in their playground.






By 11am it was all systems go. Chris Sheedy, the official adjudicator from Guiness World Records had arrived and was overseeing the entire report from go to whoa. The temperatures started coming in thick and fast from around the country. By 2pm it was clear we had enough data from enough schools to have a real shot at the record. But we still needed to get the data into an on-air report and screen it on the channel to win the record for ourselves. Number crunchers worked hard to input all the temperatures into our specially prepared map while Chris Sheedy looked on. The teams worked down to the wire and pulled it all together with minutes to spare. Ken Heatley had the huge job of presenting The Big Report with all 502 temperatures and he got through the lot with flying colours. The report was broadcast and Chris Sheedy proudly announced that The Weather Channel and 502 schools across the nation had trounced the record.





To watch The Big Report go to www.weatherchannel.com.au/bigreport

Snowfalls of the season.

2nd August 2010

What a weekend of weather and what a winner for the snow resorts, It’s been a long time coming but finally, blizzard conditions delivered close to a metre of snow in just a few days for NSW resorts. It was touch and go though, early last week the forecast was shaping up to be widespread heavy rain followed by about ten cm of snow.

This had evening presenter Ken Heatley bemoaning his awful luck as he had organised a week off to go skiing. The forecast rainfall looked like destroying all the man-made cover that has been the only real option this season. Forecasts can change on a daily basis however and the pendulum was swinging back in favour of more snow than rain. Ken was watching the forecasts keenly and by the time he left he was planning his drive through blizzard conditions carefully. Many people were caught unawares as roads and highways to the high country were cut off stranding countless skiers trying to get back home after the weekend. Ken was all smiles through his 8 hour drive/crawl to the slopes and hit the powder early Monday to enjoy the wind blown drifts and back country trails. He sent some great photo's through to the team, check it out. Any of you heading to the slopes in the next few days has picked the week of the season.

The snow was so extensive Magdalena Roze took a camera crew to Oberon in the Central Tablelands of NSW where she reported on the winter wonderland the Central Tablelands had become. It was great to see shots of the snow falling across the pine trees in the region, Mags said it felt like a magical European Christmas.

The snow should stay in tip-top shape as colder temperatures have moved in. More snow is expected through the middle of the week but the wilder winds and heavy rain shouldn’t accompany this cold front however The Weather Channel will still be keeping a close eye on flood potential through eastern Victoria due to saturated catchments.

Nation's coldest morning in 16 years.

21st July

This week has been all about the frost and cold mornings for the inland. No where colder than Charlotte Pass in the NSW Snowy Mountains on Tuesday morning. When the reading of -20C came up in our morning observations, Tom Saunders, our on-shift meteorologist, was at first a bit sceptical. Facts have to be carefully checked before we can go to air with an extreme temperature like this. A comprehensive check of other corresponding data and a confirmation call to a fellow meteorologist at the BOM allowed Tom to announce this was the coldest morning the entire nation had seen for over 16 years and a new July record!

As the week rolls on there are some interesting signs pointing to the development of a rain event for inland QLD and NSW. Meteorologists and presenters are watching this development closely as the predictive models seem to have differing opinions on where and how much rain will fall. It’s something that we are all watching keenly we will have the latest, most up-to-date forecasts for you as developments unfold.

Rain brings a shift in optimism.

16th July 2010
It was carrot cake all round at The Weather Channel as we celebrated Dick Whitaker’s birthday. Dick was heard to say he couldn’t ask for a better birthday present than the lift in rural optimism that is being felt across many areas of Queensland, NSW, Victoria and South Australia after good rains this year. Talking to farmers on a daily basis it’s apparent there has been a real shift in mood across the areas lucky enough to receive the rain. This has also been confirmed by viewer emails and feedback with some great photos showing water moving into some of the Murray wetlands in South Australia after years of drought. Janine sent in some great before and after photo's of the transformation at her place.



Mannum Lagoon in 2007 before the drought





Mannum Lagoon in May 2008 - water lost in just 3 months



First waters making their way into the lagoon Thursday 15th July 2010




If you have photo’s showing the effect the rain after the drought has had in your area then send them in to feedback@weatherchannel.com.au. It’s great to see real results on the ground after tracking the rain totals with our radars. However it’s never all guns firing at once and there is still a lot of rain needed across southwestern WA to keep the wheat crop from failing.

Meanwhile it was shaping up to be a beautiful weekend across the nation. There was enough rain through the week to keep the crops ticking along and plenty of sunshine meant people could head outdoors on Saturday and Sunday. There was also some 30 cm of snow across the ski resorts - enough to send certain Weather Channel staff straight to the back of the cupboard for the ski gear and then off to the slopes – knowing exactly when to go is just one of the benefits of living the weather every day!