....but the bureau should have gotten the forecast right instead of saying isolated thunder they should have said isolated thunderstorms
I attended a seminar last year with SES, where a person from BoM who works in the severe weather section, presented a topic.
One of his major points is that localised severe storm cells can form anywhere and very quickly due to local conditions. But the BoM have limited automatic weather stations around South Australia to detect the localised weather changes.
In the South East you have Cape Jaffa, Coonawarra, Keith, Keith West, Meningie, Mt Gambier, Naracoorte, Padthaway and Robe.
They rely on the new doppler weather radar at Buckland Park which is blocked by the Adelaide Hills for the South East area.
BoM are very careful in issuing a severe weather warning because of the impact on the community (not just emergency services). Too many issued with no impact & people begin to ignore them.
A few SES Units/Regional offices & members have now installed weather recorders which updates a website automatically. For example, look at
http://www.wunderground.com/weatherstation/WXDailyHistory.asp?ID=ISOUTHAU17 which is at a members house at Hallett Cove.
Consider the better weather information we would have if CFS/SES/MFS station at strategic locations deployed this type of weather station or a BoM equivalent
