About Albany Meteorological Office

1867 until 1876 - Private observations were made by W.C.CLIFTON.

1st January 1877 - Official records, including rainfall were began by "The Surveyor Generals Department".

Although the exact location of the instruments is not know, it is assumed that they were situated on the railway property to the eastern side of the old Post Office. This was the confirmed location in 1925 with observations of rainfall and temperature being taken. From 1947 until 1965 hydrogen-filled balloons were also released from this site to obtain winds from aloft.

Observations continued in the immediate vicinity of the site until March 1965 when the Bureau of Meteorology opened a “World Class Standard” office at Albany Airport taking. Both surface and upper air observations 365 days a year, 24 hours a day.

February 1968 - A letter from Mr. H.E. Turner raising public concerns that the Albany Airport rainfall was markedly different from that of the Albany Town and requested that a rain gauge be re-installed in the town. A rain gauge was located at Centennial Oval in 1968 and read by the caretaker.

Now, with over 30 years of rainfall observations at Albany Airport, a comparison of the 'Albany Town' and 'Albany Airport' data verifies Mr Turner's suggestion, with the Town receiving, on average an extra 127mm per year.

1982 - The raingauge was moved to the Town Council Works Deport in North Road, only a short distance from the oval. Due to the close proximity of the two sites the records could be amalgamated under the one site of “Albany Town”. Mr. David Lyons and Mr. Gary Cooper had a long association with recording the rainfall data at this site with Mr. Cooper taking the last reading at the deport on 31st August 1998.

1st September 1998 - Albany Town rain gauge relocated to a site at the Residency Museum, approximately 500m west of where readings commenced over 121 years before, with museum employee Anthea Beeck taking the first reading.

In 1995 the Bureau of Meteorology, with the assistance of Mr. Edgar Green were able to obtain a copy of rainfall readings compiled over several years by Mr. Ron Cull at his home in Middleton Road, Albany. Mr. Cull’s readings encompassed the period 1965 to 1968 and he used a calibrated rain gauge acceptable to the Bureau standards. His records were assessed and considered appropriate to be amalgamated with other “Albany Town” rainfall data. The amalgamation of Mr. Cull’s data with that held by the Bureau now provides an uninterrupted record of rainfall for “Albany Town” since 1st January 1877.

Surface observation at 9am and 3pm commenced at the Residency Museum in September 2002.

Weather records, both surface and upper air, archived by the Bureau of Meteorology are considered NATIONAL TREASURES held in trust for current and future generations of Australians.