There’s quite a spectacular storm happening just west of Canberra at the moment, unfortunately it seems to be slowly moving away from Canberra, but the lightning is quite spectacular none-the-less…some of the strikes can even be seen from here. The view from Belconnen must be quite extraordinary.
Samuel
2 comments February 17th, 2007 at 09:22pm
Whoops, nearly forgot…Blue Warning for the ACT and a severe storm warning from the Bureau of Meteorology.
If you need assistance with storm damage, give the SES a call on their new number, 132 500.
Based on the weather radar, Canberra is only going to get light rain…Stuart Bocking, you missed again! The drenching rain is supposed to fall in Canberra please.
Samuel
February 16th, 2007 at 05:19pm
It looks like 666 ABC Canberra are looking for a new program director. Here’s the job advertisement from Radioinfo.
Program Director
09 Feb 2007
# Canberra
# $65,424 – $80,940 p.a.Local Radio in Canberra has a vacancy for a highly motivated and experienced program maker to lead the station’s on air teams with the purpose of maintaining outstanding program content, focussing on information and entertainment radio. The Program Director provides high level leadership in editorial decision making, manages human and program resources, and develops strategies to build and maintain audiences. The Program Director’s role includes the generation of very strong program content, with significant development of original ideas for station on air and off air activities. As editorial team leader, the role requires outstanding ability to motivate others in being creative and innovative in producing on air content.
Selection Criteria:
1. Outstanding interpersonal and motivational skills, proven experience in radio with outstanding editorial skills and judgement.
2. Proven ability to lead and inspire a team of program makers with specific ability to guide teams in making diverse daily programs in a metropolitan radio station.
3. Demonstrated ability to develop and produce accessible and relevant program content. Demonstrated leadership in program construction and delivery.
4. Capacity to initiate, research and produce highly complex program segments and interviews and provide significant input into shaping program and station sound. Ability to work under high pressure and to deadlines.
5. A comprehensive understanding and commitment to ABC Editorial Policies as well as EEO and Cultural Diversity issues and their relevance to program making.
6. Comprehensive knowledge of modern broadcast technology including digital editing and online content.
7. Ability to develop strategies to attract and maintain audiences as well as the ability to manage projects and major broadcasting initiatives.
8. Knowledge of key issues affecting the Canberra audience.
9. Ability to produce and present live and pre-recorded reports for radio at an outstanding level.# All applications must include audition material on CD ONLY (non returnable). Copies of the ABC Editorial Policies are available at www.abc.net.au
For further information contact Jen Brennen on (02) 6275 4615.
Applications quoting reference IAR706072 should be sent to Recruitment, ABC, GPO Box 9994, Adelaide SA 5001 or email using the link below.
Applicants must address the selection criteria. For information on how to apply visit abc.net.au/jobs
The ABC is an equal opportunity employer
The ABC invites Indigenous Australians to apply for this position
If they’re going to write a politically correct job advertisement, they could at least start it by acknowledging that the successful applicant will be asked to work on “Ngunnawal land” (the statement which anybody trying to score points for political correctness open their speeches with in Canberra…except they acknowledge that they are standing or meeting on it). Actually, why not have the political correctness hub of Canberra radio acknowledge it at the start of every program…that’s bound to bring in the listeners. Say it over and over and over for eight minutes and you’ll win the quarter hour in the ratings!
In all seriousness though, 666ABC are coming in to a new ratings period with the very real prospect of losing further ground to 2CC…perhaps with a new Program Director they will be behind 2CC by the end of the second ratings period. One can only hope.
After this article, somebody is going to accuse me of an anti-ABC bias, so perhaps I should explain myself a bit further. Overall I like the ABC, but their Canberra radio station leaves a lot to be desired, and it will probably take a ratings defeat for them to shake things up a bit. They’ve been on top of the pile for a long time, and they’ve gone stale, they’re neither fresh nor interesting (incidentally 3AW seem to be headed in the same direction in Melbourne). It’s time for a change.
Maybe their new Program Director will fix things up for them, but with 666 being 666, it’ll take a ratings defeat, or something very close to it, to make them notice that they aren’t the be-all-and-end-all of Canberra’s talk radio market.
Of course, I would like to see 2CC in their rightful place above the local ABC station in the ratings…they’re the better station at the moment and have been for a while (a couple holiday errors excepted).
Samuel
7 comments February 12th, 2007 at 08:49am
The ACT Emergency Services Authority has issued a Yellow Warning (likely impact) for the ACT following the release of a severe storm warning by the Bureau of Meteorology. I can’t find the ESA announcement online (which is odd for them lately), so here is the Bureau’s announcement.
NSW/ACT SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
for LARGE HAILSTONES, DAMAGING WIND, VERY HEAVY RAINFALL and FLASH FLOODING
For people in the
Central West Slopes,
Central Tablelands,
South West Slopes,
Southern Tablelands,
the ACT and parts of the
Northwest Slopes,
South Coast,
Northern Tablelands,
Mid North Coast and
Hunter Forecast Districts.Issued at 2:35 PM Saturday, 10 February 2007.
Severe thunderstorms are likely to produce damaging winds, very heavy rainfall and flash flooding and large hailstones in the warning area over the next several hours.
Major locations within the warning area include Orange, Mudgee, Bathurst, Katoomba, Canberra, Goulburn, Cooma, Yass, Young, Tumbarumba, Armidale and Glen Innes.
Large hailstones are most likely in the southern part of the warning area.
The State Emergency Service advises that people should:
* Move your car under cover or away from trees.
* Secure or put away loose items around your house, yard and balcony.
* Keep clear of fallen power lines.
* Keep clear of creeks and storm drains.
* Don’t walk, ride your bike or drive through flood water.
* Unplug computers and appliances.
* Avoid using the phone during the storm.
* Stay indoors away from windows, and keep children and pets indoors as well.
* For emergency help in floods and storms, ring your local SES Unit on 13 2500.
* In the ACT, ring the ACT Emergency Service on 6207 8455The next warning is due to be issued by 5:35 PM.
This warning is also available through TV and Radio broadcasts, the Bureau’s website at www.bom.gov.au or call 1300 659 218. The Bureau and State Emergency Service would appreciate this warning being broadcast regularly.
Update 3:10pm: And here’s the press release from the Emergency Services Authority
A YELLOW LEVEL warning for a possible storm threat to the ACT has been issued as part of the ACT All Hazards Warning System following the issuing of a severe thunderstorm warning by the Bureau of Meteorology.
The Bureau advises the storm may produce large hailstones, damaging winds, very heavy rainfall and flash flooding over the next several hours.
The YELLOW LEVEL warning covers the period from 1400 Saturday 10th February 2007 to 1800 Saturday 10th February 2007.
”The ACT SES has placed units on standby as a precaution at this stage and are ready to respond if required by the community,” ACT State Emergency Service Deputy Chief Officer Bren Burkevics said.
“Residents should refer to Emergencies and the National Capital – A residents guide available on www.esa.act.gov.au ,”he said.
“The ACT State Emergency Service advises that as storms approach, residents should:
Put vehicles under cover or cover them with blankets
Secure or put away loose items around your home, yard and balcony
Move indoors and away from windows
Shelter and secure pets and animals
Put outdoor items: garden furniture, toys etc. inside, and
Keep children and animals away from storm water drains“During and after the storm, residents should:
Take extreme care when driving
Unplug computers and appliances
Beware of fallen trees and power lines
Listen to a portable radio for updates
Avoid using the telephone during the stormFOR ACT SES EMERGENCY HELP IN FLOODS AND STORMS CALL 132 500
FOR LIFE THREATENING EMERGENCIES CALL 000
End Update
Also, I would just like to congratulate 2CC who broadcast the warning before the Bureau publicly released it, and broadcast it immediately, rather than waiting until the weather update.. The Bureau obviously told the ESA first, and they got the fax out first. Well done 2CC, this is a vast improvement over the New Years Eve fiasco, and even over previous regular practice.
Update 6:04pm: I was just about to give up all hope of rain, but out of the blue another storm cell is developing rapidly to the west of Canberra and is on its way in…hopefully this doesn’t dissipate like the last two did! This one appears to be part of a growing storm front so the chances of it dissipating are negligible.
Here’s the weather radar picture from 5:20pm, which pretty much sums up the afternoon’s rain pattern.
And here’s the one from 6pm showing the growing storm front to the west and north-west of Canberra. (I’m in a bit of a hurry, I’ll resize the images shortly).
I better take Nattie for her walk now before the rain hits! End Update
Update 6:44pm: The Yellow Warning has expired, but the storm is about to hit! Here’s the latest from the Bureau
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
for LARGE HAILSTONES, DAMAGING WIND, VERY HEAVY RAINFALL and FLASH FLOODING
For people in the
Northwest Slopes,
Illawarra,
Northern Tablelands,
Hunter,
Central Tablelands,
Southern Tablelands,
the ACT and parts of the
Northwest Plains,
Central West Slopes,
South Coast,
Northern Rivers,
Mid North Coast,
Metropolitan and
South West Slopes Forecast Districts.Issued at 5:45 PM Saturday, 10 February 2007.
Severe thunderstorms are likely to produce large hailstones, damaging winds, very heavy rainfall and flash flooding in the warning area over the next several hours.
Major locations within the warning area include Armidale, Orange, Bathurst, Katoomba, Canberra, Goulburn, Cooma, Yass, Tamworth, Gunnedah, Moree and Narrabri.
5cm hailstones observed at Rylstone at 15:30p.mThe next warning is due to be issued by 8:25 PM.
An expanded warning area, and plenty of activity on the weather radar. More updates to follow. End Update
Update 7:15pm: Looks like people south of Lake Burley Griffin are copping a battering. We’ve had fairly tame rain in Reid, but there was a lightning strike within a couple hundred metres of my house not long ago (Nattie was not impressed).
In related news, ABC TV News has reported that western New South Wales from Dubbo, up to Cobar and out to Bourke, is without power after the storm caused a fault on a main transmission line. Power has been restored to Dubbo Hospital, but the lines are only able to support a very small amount of power at the moment. Electricity transmission authority TransGrid have three crews out trying to find the fault on the 180km long cable, but are having trouble due to the storm, and have no idea when power will be restored.
End Update
Samuel
7 comments February 10th, 2007 at 02:51pm
I sent this email to Win Television’s Canberra newsroom this morning:
Good morning Win News Canberra,
I wonder if you could pass on a message of congratulations to Jessica Good for me? She has done a wonderful job filling in for Peter Leonard and, based on the last couple nights, has a bright future ahead.
I should also congratulate the rest of you as well, as you all continue to produce the best local news bulletins in Canberra.
Also, I was thinking, and I’m sure it’s beyond your control but you might be able to pass it on as a suggestion…Win is clearly the leader in regional news, but each region only gets to see their local bulletin. Perhaps WIN could consider running a couple bulletins from nearby areas overnight. I don’t know what the cost of doing that would be, so it might be out of the question, but if it is workable it would be very interesting for a “news junkie” like myself to hear about the news of nearby regions.
Anyway, thank you for continuing to provide an excellent news service.
Best wishes,
Samuel Gordon-Stewart
February 9th, 2007 at 02:49pm
For those of you, like me, who are in the Canberra region and are trying to work out where all the thunder is coming from, it’s coming from a sever thunderstorm north of Gourburn and stretching across the majority of the Central Tablelands, and parts of the western Illawarra.
A late shower or thunderstorm is expected in Canberra, however no warnings are current.
Update about three minutes later: It’s now raining here, and the thunder is sounding a lot closer…looks like the Canberra storms have come too! End Update
Samuel
4 comments February 3rd, 2007 at 02:52pm
Yesterday morning, after taking photos of buildings in an effort to make a point about the poor quality of journalism evident at City News/Ads, Nattie and I had a lengthy walk which included a visit to the lake. There were a few hot air balloons around and as we had the camera with us, I thought it would be a good idea to take some photos. All of the photos below can be enlarged by clicking on them.
Incidentally, if you’re just after the story in the headline, click here to scroll directly to the story.
At one stage down near the lake we had a bunch of hot air balloons more or less above us, but too scattered to fit into one photo, so I took a few.
First up is the Dawn Drifters balloon. Dawn Drifters and Balloons Aloft are the main hot air balloon businesses in Canberra.
Then the Prime Television balloon.
The next balloon was a trifle odd, it was a balloon for three credit unions, namely The Credit Union of Canberra, The Snowy Mountains Credit Union, and the Hospitals Credit Union. The reason it was odd is that these credit unions have merged to form Service One Members Banking.
All of these photos make the balloons look pretty close, but that was just a zoom effect, as you can see in this photo of the Prime Television balloon (left) and the Dawn Drifters balloon (right).
Next up is the Delfast balloon (top) and the Kamberra Wine Company balloon (bottom).
And the Questacon balloon.
After this I noticed that the Dawn Drifters Balloon was heading towards Civic, and was having immense trouble staying above various buildings, as we headed in towards where it was, it was descending on the Airservices Australia building.
This photo was taken while the balloon’s basket was behind the building, but parts of the balloon were still above it. Needless to say, a collision under those circumstances could easily be tragic.
Naturally enough, just when I was about to rapidly head around to the other side of the building with the camera in video mode, the batteries exhausted themselves. While I was quickly changing the batteries, the pilot of the balloon skillfully got out of the precarious position and floated away.
The balloon was just about to hover across the road when I took this photo.
I then took the following video of it flying away. If you look very carefully, just after the camera shakes a bit, you can see one of the passengers lean out and wave to the camera.
The original, slightly higher quality video, can be downloaded by clicking here.
I have produced this map with the aide of Google Earth to place the video in context.
My location is marked with a blue dot, the location of the balloon in the photo where it is partially behind the Airservices Australia building is marked with a red dot, and the approximate path taken by the escaping balloon is shown by the red line. Street names have been added for your reference.
Samuel
January 29th, 2007 at 02:37pm
Residents of Canberra, and possibly people outside of Canberra would remember the hail storm which hit Canberra on New Years Eve.
With thanks to Chris and Vik of Conder, here are a bunch of photos of the Conder area during and just after the storm.
Samuel
3 comments January 14th, 2007 at 04:35am
2CA’s breakfast connumdrum has been solved, the show is once again going back to having only one host, namely Larry Appley. In the late 1990’s and early 2000’s, Larry was 2CA’s drive presenter. Welcome back Larry!
I’m still not quite sure what’s going on with the other shifts of the day, although I think it’s safe to say that ex-Breakfast Boy and current Program Director Leighton Archer will have a shift, I’m guessing drive, as I doubt Gerry Nyein, replacement for ex-morning/afternoon presenter Simon Pulis will be moved to drive.
I’ve got a recording of me telling a joke to Larry Appley and his sidekick of the time (can’t remember her name, and I think it was a fake name anyway) back in 2000, I’ll try and dig it up for Friday Funnies.
Update: 13 January 1:13pm: Just noticed that Hayden Miller (ex-3CS Colac) is also moving to 2CA…suddenly I get the feeling that 2CA are moving to weekday shifts of three hours each (9am-12pm, 12pm-3pm and 3pm-6pm). End Update
Samuel
January 12th, 2007 at 10:43pm
Over the summer break 2CA lost breakfast boy Paul Blunt to the Sunshine Coast, and music director/drive announcer Gregg Easton to nowhere in particular. However it looks like they are gaining Hayden Miller from 3CS in Colac. I don’t know whether he is a new breakfast boy or not, but at least 2CA are replacing lost staff!
FM 104.7 have lost Mason Edwards from Breakfast with Chris, Sarah and Mason. Their website indicates that the Chris and Sarah will continue as a duo. Apparently Mason has gone to sister station NXFM in Newcastle to anchor “Steve & Kim for Brekkie”, although seeing as he is neither Steve nor Kim, I’m a tad confused what the definition of “anchor” is in this case.
FM 104.7 and Mix 106.3 also lost their breakfast newsreader and senior journalist Matt Watson. Matt is currently considering his future, and 104.7 & Mix are looking for a replacement.
Other than that, people seem to be in their normal places (holidays excluded).
Samuel
3 comments January 10th, 2007 at 07:33am
Weatherzone is still down, with the following notice:
Weatherzone
Sunday 17:24 EDT
Due to a catastrophic hardware failure Weatherzone is temporarily offline.
Our technical staff are working to correct the problem. The hardware has been replaced and it is hoped that normal service will be restored during Monday morning.
We apologise for any inconvenience.
So once again I am compiling a weather report from the Bureau Of Meteorology’s Canberra Forecast, this time issued at 3:30 pm EDT on Sunday 7 January 2007.
A few further showers this evening, but clearing by tomorrow morning for a fine and sunny Monday with light to moderate east to southeast winds. An overnight low of 14 degrees, and a top of 27 degrees.
Looking ahead, fine conditions are expected for most of this week with gradually rising temperatures. Hot conditions are expected on Thursday and Friday with possible late showers on Friday. Tuesday 28 degrees, Wednesday 32 degrees and Thursday 36 degrees.
More information can be obtained from the Bureau of Meteorology’s Canberra forecast page.
Samuel
5 comments January 7th, 2007 at 10:06pm
In the absence of the Weatherzone weather forecast usually seen on the right of this website’s home page, here is a weather forecast for Canberra, based on the Bureau of Meteorology forecast issued at 3:30 pm EDT on Saturday 6 January 2007.
A trough approaching western NSW will move across the ACT on Sunday, bringing isolated showers about the region, moderate west to northwest winds are expected. We’re heading down to an overnight low of 19 degrees, with 29 the expected high. The UV Index will be 10, with a high fire danger.
Looking ahead, the showers will clear early Monday with fine conditions expected for most of next week with gradually rising temperatures, and a chance of a shower on Friday.
27 degrees for Monday, 28 for Tuesday and 32 for Wednesday.
More information can be obtained from the Bureau of Meteorology’s Canberra forecast page.
Samuel
Update 11:53am: Weatherzone have the following service status update for us:
Sunday 11:04 EDT
Due to a catastrophic hardware failure Weatherzone is temporarily offline.
Our technical staff are working to correct the problem and hope to restore normal service by Sunday night.
We apologise for any inconvenience.
In the meantime they are offering temporary access to their beta development site which, after having had a look around last night, is a vast improvement on their current site.
URL: http://beta.weatherzone.com.au
Username: wzbeta
Password: wzbeta
End Update
January 7th, 2007 at 01:14am
As three people have now informed me by email, the weather information normally seen on the right of the home page of this blog is currently not appearing. Weatherzone, the people who provide this service, currently have the following message on their home page:
Weatherzone
Saturday 11:42 EDT
Due to a catastrophic hardware failure Weatherzone is temporarily offline.
Our technical staff are working to correct the problem.
We apologise for any inconvenience.
Hopefully they will be back online shortly…in the meantime the Bureau of Meteorology says it is currently 30.3°c in Canberra, which is in excess of the expected maximum of 29°c, and we are in for a shower or two. The wind is coming from a North-westerly direction at 20km/h.
I do not intend on providing further “current” weather reports, although I might provide a forecast if the Weatherzone service does not come back online soon.
Samuel
January 6th, 2007 at 03:57pm
Many people, even those who have had no contact with this website, would be aware of my views on Summernats from last year.
My main issues were with the apparent lack of proper safety procedures following a rather silly accident during a drift race, and the excessive amount of noise that a minority of attendees seem to think the northern part of Canberra wants to hear in the wee hours of the morning.
I would like to take this opportunity to commend Summernats organiser Chic Henry, and the Australian Federal Police, for addressing the majority of my concerns. It would appear that Mr. Henry has done a lot of good work in not only addressing safety issues, but also making the event a more family friendly event, whilst retaining plenty of room for the adult activities which apparently make Summernats more than a car show, and awfully attractive to an awful lot of people.
Mr. Henry’s partnership with the Australian Federal Police, in which the AFP announced that they would confiscate vehicles taking part in illegal or anti-social behaviour outside the Summernats venue, is also a good move, and has for the most part worked. I was woken up a couple times last night by some rather obvious sounds of street racing along Limestone Avenue, and a lot of screeching tyres, but hearing the sirens shortly afterwards made it all worthwhile!
Overall the noisy and naughty post-midnight activities are much less frequent than they were last year, they still happen, but not much more than they do during the rest of the year, which is a vast improvement on last year.
I still have no interest in attending Summernats, but I appreciate the work which has gone into this year’s event to make it better for attendees and the public who live in nearby suburbs.
I don’t know if Mr. Henry or the AFP read my comments, although I dare say they would have been hard to miss in some form after a number of websites, including local car enthusiast websites, took quite an interest in them.
I will be sending this editorial to Mr. Henry to ensure that he is aware of my pleasure with the changes.
Samuel
January 6th, 2007 at 01:10pm
I know people at 2CC read this site, and I would like to let you all know that I am now at breaking point. Today has been an unmitigated disaster, with a strange attempt to fill in breakfast air time when the network programming didn’t come through, and now a complete failure of the automation and a constant repeating of the emergency tape’s copy of Simon and Garfunkel’s “The Sounds Of Silence”, not to mention yesterday’s failure to broadcast orange warning emergency information.
As for this afternoon, John B1_B5 made these comments a short time ago in the Rain, Hail, Blue and Orange Alerts post.
But let me just say this – I’m getting sick and tired of hearing them play “The Sound of Silence” every time they come back from a news break !
I’ve heard “The Sound Of Silence” being played 15 times in the past 2 hours !
They’re now playing it whenever thay go to an ad break as well.Somebody obviously needs a swift kick up the rear end !
I then wrote:
It’s the emergency tape John…I hear it every now and then during New Day Australia, but today has been an absolute shocker for 2CC.
They obvious haven’t bothered to employ a panel operator today, they are automated, and either the pulses aren’t coming through from Sydney, or somebody killed the 2CC computer, or forgot to program the ad breaks…but that’s irrelevant, 2UE traffic and weather are coming through during the news, they need a panel operator for this show, and don’t have one.
I thought it was bad when they scheduled half the Christmas day ad breaks to be a minute overtime, drowning out 2UE with a cacophony of noise, but today is clearly worse.
I’m very disappointed with 2CC today, and for a fair bit of the last week, I’m surprised that the program director (whoever it is these days) didn’t recognise the need for a panel operator today.
In my opinion, senior staff should be monitoring the station, and the emergency tape should be setup to send a text message off to someone if it gets started…and if something like this happens, somebody should go to the station and fix things up.
In all seriousness, if I was a panel operator for 2CC, I would be making my way into 2CC right now (well, about two hours ago) to either panel until 6pm, or fix the automation.
2CC have been doing very well for the half a year or so, with minimal problems, and a strong commitment to making the station sound good…they should be ashamed of this latest effort…or lack thereof.
And I’m sorry, but the irony of “The Sounds Of Silence” being on an emergency tape triggered by 15 seconds of silence has well and truly worn off.
The only good thing about this afternoon is that we haven’t heard yesterday’s weather report since Murray Olds started, but I would prefer to hear it than yet another repeat of the bloody sounds of silence.
The bottom line on this is that if we have a repeat performance of today’s disaster, 2CC risk losing me to the horrid local ABC station…it might be filled with insane people, but at least they have local weather, don’t play yesterday’s weather, and aren’t going to play the same song 500 times a day.
If I, as a staunch supporter of 2CC, am considering switching station, think about how many people you have already lost.
Samuel
Update 6:12pm: The normally automated shows appear to have scheduled ad breaks…Sports Today has ads! Hooray! End Update
31 comments January 1st, 2007 at 04:42pm
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