Stormy Weather

- A century of storms, fire, flood and drought in New South Wales (1908-2008)

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This booklet commemorates the Bureau’s century of service to the community and highlights significant New South Wales weather and climate events.

Here are summaries of particularly damaging Southerly Busters, East Coast Lows and tropical cyclones; the creeping catastrophe of drought; the brief violence of a tornado; massive fires; the Hunter floods of 1955, which resulted in the Bureau being given flood forecasting responsibilities; and the devastating Sydney hailstorm of 1999.

We should look back to remind us why, and how, we must prepare communities for weather extremes like flooding, fire and storm; we must also look forward to prepare for even greater extremes projected under climate change.

Barry Hanstrum
Regional Director for New South Wales
Australian Bureau of Meteorology

  • Copies of the booklet are freely available from the NSW Bureau of Meteorology:
    Level 16, 300 Elizabeth Street, Sydney (near Central Station).
  • To receive a copy by post, please send a stamped ($1.65) self-addressed A4 envelope to:
    Community Relations, Bureau of Meteorology, PO Box 413 Darlinghurst NSW 1300.

Further Resources:

February 2010