Dr Micha CampbellApr 23

Good read on the ABC today about Australia's declining weather observation stations - and the important work that historical climatologists like Linden Ashcroft do, unearthing old records of weather obs.

As a kid, my family kept daily rainfall observations - it was always fascinating looking at the old records.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-04-19/australias-shrinking-rainfall-observation-network/106502184

#Weather #Climate #WeatherAndClimate #Australia #YourABC

The quiet disappearance of Australia's rainfall observation network

For more than 60 years, Frank Pritchard has diligently checked the weather, adding to a record that stretches back more than a century. But he's part of a quietly shrinking network of observers around Australia. Without it, scientists say we risk missing out on important information that could help improve weather forecast models and climate projections.

Show threadDavid de GrootApr 23
@michcampbell Interestingly though, BoM don't really want to take observations from home weather stations. I've been running one for over 15 years now and contribute to various other weather services, but BoM, nup, no way to send my data there.
Show threadDr Micha CampbellApr 23
@david very odd, as I think the network includes ~5000 volunteer weather observers. Maybe they have enough of a density of observations where you live? It's a shame though, more data is more data!
Show threadDavid de GrootApr 23

@michcampbell It is also possible I just haven't found how to get the data to BoM.

The UK Met Office has an easy API.

Show threadDr Micha CampbellApr 23

@david the BOM data infrastructure is an asbolute nightmare 😂

I don't know anyone to contact, @ibk or @adamhsparks might have some idea about how to get the obs to them :)

Show threadibkApr 23
@michcampbell @david @adamhsparks I do not know who to contact, I’m afraid.
Show threadibkApr 23
@michcampbell @david @adamhsparks For a while, the BoM had the Weathwr Observations Website, BoMWOW, for submitting observations. Which was actually the UK Met Office. They closed it in 2024 apparently because not many people were using it.
And upon searching I see that UKMO are also shutting down WOW: https://weatherobservationswebsite.blogspot.com/2025/12/important-update-retirement-of-weather.html
Important Update: Retirement of the Weather Observations Website (WOW)

After more than a decade of supporting crowd-sourced weather observations and citizen science, the Met Office will begin retiring the Weathe...

Show threadDavid de GrootApr 23
@ibk @michcampbell @adamhsparks I did contribute to WOW, but had no confidence BoM was using any of that data. There was absolutely no mention of anything BoM on the WOW site iirc. But yeah, I was aware that the WOW was shutting down.
Show threadibk
@david @michcampbell @adamhsparks To the best of my knowledge, WOW data was rarely used. Certainly not incorporated into the “official” climate database. Possibly checked by some forecasters, but only in real time.
It was a great idea sadly lacking in commitment by the organisation.
Apr 23 at 11:29amWeb