Monday, 20 November 2000

MEDIA RELEASE - HEAD OFFICE - 2001 Australian Weather Calendar

Calendar tribute for Lake Eyre family

The Mitchell family of Lake Eyre has been recording rainfall for the Weather Bureau for more than half a century. In recognition of their commitment, the family is featured in the 2001 Australian Weather Calender. The calendar is dedicated to the Bureau's network of 6200 volunteer rainfall observers and includes an observer from each Australian state. South Australia has a network of 744 rainfall stations, of which 645 are operated by volunteers.

"Muloorina" is a 4400 square kilometre cattle and sheep station on the south-east side of Lake Eyre in South Australia. Its rainfall records held by the Bureau date back nearly 120 years, to 1881, when the original owners introduced sheep to the district. Elliott Price took up "Muloorina" in 1938, and today the grazing property is run by Price's grandsons, Trevor and Michael Mitchell, who continue the tradition of rainfall observations for the Bureau.

Cindy Mitchell has been responsible for recording rainfall on "Muloorina" each day for the past 15 years. She says the weather is a fundamental part of life on an Outback station. "Every morning when you get up, you look out of the window to see what the weather is doing. We rely on it for our living. We want to know if it's going to rain or if it's going to be hot. I'd say weather comes up at least half a dozen times in our conversation every day. You're always talking about whether it's hot or cold; what the wind is doing. We look at the weather map every night. It's just part of our life."

With an average of less than 10mm of rain a month on the property, conditions are a little harsher than most other parts of Australia. "Most days there's nothing in the rain gauge; nine times out of 10," Cindy says, a fact that seems to fascinate the seemingly endless stream of tourists who cut across the Mitchells' property.

"Every one of them asks, 'What's your hottest day?" Cindy says. " 'What's the weather like in summer?' ... I tell them I don't look - I don't look outside. All I know is the men come inside and say 'gee it's hot out there.' After 45 degrees I probably don't look. I remember a couple of years ago at 9pm it was still 45 degrees ... and I thought, 'that's a little bit hot'." This year though, the drought broke, "It was the perfect rain at the perfect time," Cindy says. "We couldn't have asked for more. It brought the country back to life and Lake Eyre got a bit of water in it."

The 2001 Australian Weather Calendar is available from the Bureau of Meteorology. It costs $13 over the counter and $17 posted within Australia. Special prices apply for overseas delivery.

Ends

Further information:
The 2001 Australian Weather Calendar website: www.bom.gov.au/announcements/calendar/
Mark Jenkin, Public Affairs Unit, tel: (03) 9669 4552, e-mail: pro@bom.gov.au
Main media release on volunteer rainfall observers featured in the 2001 Australian Weather Calendar.

Calendar sales (South Australia):
Postal orders: Weather Calendar, Public Affairs Unit, Bureau of Meteorology, GPO Box 1289K, MELBOURNE VIC 3001
Fax orders: (03) 9669 4113
Telephone orders: (08) 8366 2600
Over-the-counter sales:
Kent Town (Adelaide), 25 College Road, tel:(08) 8366 2600
Ceduna, Met Office, Ceduna Airport, tel:(08) 8625 2048
Mt Gambier, Met Office, Mt Gambier Airport, tel:(08) 8725 5533
Woomera, Met Office, Woomera, tel:(08) 8673 7271