Jennifer Marohasy
When the Bureau announced a new record hot day on September 23, 2017, based on instantaneous point values from a platinum resistance probe in an automated weather station in Mildura, I wanted to know the maximum temperature set recorded by a mercury thermometer on the day it was tested.
I want to compare the new record temperature with the temperature recorded by mercury at the same weather station to verify.
I understand that Mildura is one of the few official recording stations with parallel data.
I have asked the Australian Bureau of Meteorology about this type of data before and was ignored. On this occasion I contacted 2GB radio host Alan Jones. He intervened on my behalf to contact the relevant government minister.
The Bureau declared the temperature on 23 September 2017 to be the hottest day ever for Victoria since records began going back in 1889.
But as I explained to Alan Jones, there were no temperature probes back then; instead of a mercury thermometer. So I would like to know the amount of mercury measured on September 23, 2017, the declared hot day.
In short, I would really like to see Form A8 for September 23, 2017, to see what has been written down for the maximum temperature from mercury and compare this with the spot measurement results for the probe . To test, to verify. This should be standard practice when calling a new record hot day, but it’s not.
Instead of being given data for that one day, I received 10,761 A8 Forms scanned for Mildura. But not the template for September 23, 2017.
Apparently, mercury was phased out around 2015. Disappointing, I think.
But nevertheless, I think, with all this data, I can tell how the latest probe recorded in relation to mercury including in September 2012, 2013 and 2014.
Except, yes ARE NOT Mercury records for September 2013 and 2014, and September 2012 have so far been withheld.
“Thirty days have September, April, June and November…” is a traditional verse that helps to remember the number of days in each month.
I really just wanted the temperature as stated on Form A8 for September 23, 2017. But denied that, then for other Septembers for Mildura from the same probe, so I could compare values for the same location in the same month. I can see that there is a seasonal variation in the difference between the first two probes used at Mildura and the temperature recorded from the mercury thermometer.
I wrote to Anthony at the Australian Bureau of Meteorology about this in January and then February 2018.
EMAIL #1
From: Jennifer Marohasy
Date: January 24, 2018 at 3:14:19 pm AEDT
Sent: Anthony CHEAP
Subject: Missing A8Forms, September 2012Hi Anthony,
My best wishes to you for 2018.
I took a break for Christmas and New Year, and now I’m back to duplicating the scanned A8 forms you kindly provided to me in early December.
Today I was going to copy September 2012 but found this month missing. It’s not on the USB you emailed me to, nor is it the one you originally uploaded at the FTP drive.
Maybe this month of the year was never actually scanned?
Please scan the A8 September 2012 forms and provide me… for complete application?Best regards, Jennifer
EMAIL #2
From: Anthony CHEAP
Date: Tuesday, January 30, 2018 at 9:38 pm
Subject: RE: Missing A8Forms, September 2012 [SEC=UNCLASSIFIED] To: Jennifer MarohasyDear Jennifer,
Thanks for bringing to my attention. I just got back from a sabbatical but will track down the missing month’s data now.
Best regards, Anthony
EMAIL #3
From: Jennifer Marohasy
Date: Monday, February 12, 2018 at 11:09 am
Sent: Anthony CHEAPHi Anthony
I’ve tried calling you a few times in pursuit of this data: scanned A8 forms for September 2012. I left a message on your phone this morning.
When can you provide me with scanned A8 forms for September 2012? I didn’t realize how important that month of data was at first.
When you first wrote to me, you indicated that there were parallel reads until January 2015. So I assumed there would be at least three September (2012, 2013, 2014) with parallel data from the current Rosemount probe installed in June 2012.
When I wrote to you on January 24, 2018 explaining that September 2012 was missing, I still hadn’t realized that the months of 2013 and 2014 (when scanned) actually didn’t have any records. from a mercury thermometer, i.e. no parallel readings. I worked slowly through the forms in chronological order.
You originally pointed out and I quote from your email October 28, 2017:
“A8 records also existed from January 1, 2001 to January 28, 2015, and these records are in the process of being extracted from the archive and scanned. Scanning is a labor intensive operation and will take some time to complete… Since the station was automated in 2015, no liquid-in-glass measurements are available for September 23, 2017 .”I’m not a big believer in conspiracy theories, but it seems a bit suspicious that you’ve provided me with over 10,000 scanned pages showing complete profiles for all A8 forms from Mildura between day 1 January 1989 to January 31, 2015, with the only exception of September 2012 – no date in that month.
Of course, with manual records available from mercury thermometers, this will be the only month data that provides a direct comparison to the September 23, 2017 record; apparently the hottest day on record in Victoria since 1889.
Best regards, Jennifer
*****
Featured image is Sample A8 scanned from 13 September 1996. This is last September mercury was the official recording instrument at Mildura, since 1 November 1996 there has been a change to probe. The unusually cold 14.3C temperature recorded from the mercury was the highest at 9am that morning, which was the previous day’s highest. Those interested in pursuing such things will find that this is also the maximum temperature recorded in the ADAM data archive for meteorology on September 12, 1996. ACORN database- The interesting SAT, used by the Bureau to understand climate change and variability, showed 15.1 C for that day. Apparently, just through the remodeling, the Bureau changed this maximum daily value by 0.8C. Such dramatic changes through remodeling, also known as homogenization, are not unusual.
Related
