28/02/2005 - Greg Hunt,
Parliamentary Secretary with ministerial
responsibility for the Australian Bureau
of Meteorology and David Hawker, Federal
Member for Wannon today announced that a
new state-of-the-art Automatic Weather Station
(AWS) at Casterton in Western Victoria will
provide half hourly reports in support of
improved fire services during the fire season.
"For more than a decade, the Country
Fire Authority (CFA) has operated a network
of Automatic Weather Stations (AWS) in western
Victoria to monitor weather conditions that
may affect fire fighting operations, such
as summer-time wind changes," Mr Hunt
said.
"The CFA has now decided that it would
be of mutual benefit to have the Australian
Bureau of Meteorology own and operate this
network as part of the Bureau's national
Automatic Weather Station network of over
540 stations nationwide."
The CFA has been operating this AWS until
now. The new state-of-the-art AWS has been
installed on the same site.
David Hawker said an AWS at Casterton was
first installed in the late 1980s following
serious wildfires that occurred in Victoria
in 1977, 1983 and 1985.
"This new AWS will provide accurate
readings of temperature, humidity and wind
as well as rainfall every hour 365 days
a year. During the fire season, it will
report to the Bureau every half hour,"
Mr Hawker said.
"Should there be a significant change
in the weather, for example a wind change
or sudden temperature change, then this
will be immediately reported to the Bureau.
These reports will also be forwarded to
the CFA and the Fire Management Branch of
the Department of Sustainability and Environment
(DSE) every 10 minutes during hazardous
conditions, ensuring that the fire authorities
have the very latest information available.
"This new facility, along with other
upgrades in the network, will help the Bureau,
the CFA and DSE to closely monitor the weather
and will contribute towards safer and more
effective fire fighting, benefiting farmers,
crop dusters and the local community in
general," Mr Hawker said.
The CFA has provided funding for replacement
and upgrade of several AWSs to the Bureau
standard and the Casterton AWS is the second
to be upgraded in the old CFA network. Data
from the Casterton AWS is available at:
http://www.bom.gov.au/products/IDV65119.shtml
