Blackheath Weather - Legends Series
Welcome to the Blackheath Weather Legends Series. This series will focus on the 'Weather Legends' that have given so much to the community over the decades. Over time, we will also consider doing interviews on other themes, like 'Local Legends'.
Interview 1 - Nick Moir's Video Interview - Click Here.
Nick Moir is an international and national award winning photographer, specialising in severe storms , bushfires and other environmental phenomena. Chief Photographer, The Sydney Morning Herald.
Interview 2 - Andrew Miskelly
Andrew is a Developer at Weatherzone with many years of experience in that field. Andrew is one of the best weather minds that I know and is more than worthy to be included in the Blackheath Weather Legends Interview Series.
1/ What is your first weather memory?
I started paying attention to the weather when my folks bought a place in Taralga in the NSW Southern Tablelands. So, probably freezing winter weather in its various forms!
2/ What is your most significant weather memory or one of your favourites?
I went to university in Wollongong and was there for the floods in August 1998 and the genesis of what became the infamous Sydney hailstorm of April 1999. When I first saw the lightning produced by the latter, I was convinced that something had blown up at Port Kembla steelworks.
3/ When did you first actively get involved in studying/learning about the weather?
The seed was sown when, as a child, I was awestruck by the tornado in The Wizard of Oz (the muslin sock from 1939 made a better twister than any CGI I've yet seen). Later, I wanted to know when and why it was going to snow in Taralga.
The internet then came along and, thanks to bulletin boards, forums and social media, weather enthusiasts have never looked back!
4/ Do you have a favourite type of weather? Why does it appeal to you?
It's hard to choose between evening thunderstorms in summer, and the onset of a big winter cold front.
I suppose the common thread is being able to observe structure and effects. A system building, maturing and changing the character of the day.
5/ In this moment, if you could click your fingers, where would you go to experience some fascinating weather?
In another life (and when humans were required for such things), I could see myself being an observer at one of the remote weather stations. There's nothing like remoteness to make you feel immersed in the weather.
6/ Do you have any frightening or intense weather stories?
Walking above the treeline in the Kosciuszko National Park during a thunderstorm is invigorating. My wife and I were up there with a friend on New Year's Day in 2012 when a thunderstorm produced not only lightning but a funnel cloud and hail. Happily, we weren't far from Seaman's Hut and were able to shelter there.
7/ What has the weather taught you about life? Are there lessons or themes that have enriched your life?
Weather teaches me, repeatedly, to be comfortable with not always knowing and not always being in control. I expect that, thanks to the reality of "chaos", we'll never quite get a handle on what the weather's going to do next and I like that.
8/ If you could have a t-shirt with the best weather photo ever on the front of it, what would it be?
There have been some stunning low precipitation supercells in the United States this season.
9/ Would you wear cloud socks, if someone gave them to you?
Yes, but only on my feet.
10/ If you could design a piece of weather jewellery for yourself or a friend, what would it look like?
Cauliflower hail crystal earrings.
11/ Do you have a favourite weather related song or certain music that connects you to the weather?
Ever since I first heard it, U2's song "Exit", from The Joshua Tree, has evoked in me the image of a thunderstorm.
It has an eerie and ominous buildup and a chaotic crescendo. Larry Mullen Jr. produces peals of thunder on the toms and "flangs" on the cymbals. It ends with calm - and crickets.
The whole album is evocative of a part of the world famous for its thunderstorms.
Interview 3 - Michal Snow
Michal is a mad keen snow lover and has decades of experience in snow forecasting. I have learnt many things from him, over the years. He is able to look at forecast scenarios quite quickly and appraise unfolding situations very well. A fine addition to The Blackheath Weather Legends Interview Series.
1/ What is your first weather memory?
I bought a max/min thermometer in Christchurch NZ when I was 15 and my interest began with a weather diary. One of the first significant events was a cold May snowfall that brought snow to 100m above sea level. I use to climb the roof of the house each day to see the snowline on the Alps in the distance.
2/ What is your most significant weather memory or one of your favourites?
Probably being in Ekaterinburg in -20 to -30 temps for 3 weeks and seeing one of the biggest snowfalls there in years during that time and seeing how a city responds to such extreme cold and snow.
3/ When did you first actively get involved in studying/learning about the weather?
At 15 years old in Christchurch.
4/ Do you have a favourite type of weather? Why does it appeal to you?
Snow, I guess because I was born at -20deg and my best childhood memories were from Canada in the Snow and also some in the Barrington tops in snow.
5/ In this moment, if you could click your fingers, where would you go to experience some fascinating weather?
I guess I am always ready to click my fingers and be in the snow either in Sunny Corner or the lodge in the Snowies.
6/ Do you have any frightening or intense weather stories?
The most scary was when I left my hut in the Barrington Tops in snow and fog and used an unfamiliar route to try to get back. But I took a wrong turn off a ridge and ended up trapped in deep gullies I had never been in deep wet snow soaked and hypothermic. As much as I did not want to I had no choice but to go back uphill to try to work out where I am. By shear chance I ended up back at my hut having completed a loop on the opposite side of the ridge to where I planned to go. The reason was taking a wrong branch of the ridge going down that swung me around and completely disoriented me. I was soaked to the bone in freezing water from wet snow and trapped in thick vegetation in 40deg slopes. I could feel my body going numb from cold. Had I taken a step a few meters left or right when I started uphill I would not be here now to write this.
7/ What has the weather taught you about life? Are there lessons or themes that have enriched your life?
Take life at the pace of the weather. The weather is kind of a clock by which we live and tuning to it allows you to relax better.
8/ If you could have a t-shirt with the best weather photo ever on the front of it, what would it be?
A sunrise or a sunset.
9/ Would you wear cloud socks, if someone gave them to you?
Maybe.
10/ If you could design a piece of weather jewellery for yourself or a friend, what would it look like?
Snowflakes are the nicest.
11/ Do you have a favourite weather related song or certain music that connects you to the weather?
Thunder (Imagine Dragons)
Also Nature channel of Relax FM with various nature sounds includes rain and thunder too
Interview 4 - Ben Domensino
Ben Domensino is a Meteorologist and Media and Communications manager at Weatherzone. Ben writes really well with a warm and engaging style. I've always admired Ben's skill in connecting with people. He has a geniune passion for the weather and is a worthy addition to this page.
1/ What is your first weather memory?
A free milkshake! Walking home from the local park after playing cricket on a hot summer's day. An ice cream van pulled over and told us that the truck's freezer had thrown in the towel. We all got a free cup of cold melted ice cream! It was the perfect remedy for the heat and I still remember that day every time I hear an ice cream van in summer.
2/ What is your most significant weather memory or one of your favourites?
As a Sydney-sider I didn't get to see much snow in the first two decades of my life. But after my undergraduate degree at uni, I was incredibly lucky to be involved in a six-week trip to Antarctica to drill ice cores. We were studying the storm climatology at an ice cap on the coast of Antarctica, called Mill Island. While we were there, we got hit by several blizzards and the sun never set. Going to sleep in a one-person tent during a blizzard on a remote ice cap is something I'll never forget.
3/ When did you first actively get involved in studying/learning about the weather?
It wasn't until my 2nd year at university that I really developed a passion for weather. I had originally started a general science degree and took a 2nd year atmospheric science course as an elective. A combination of interesting content and a passionate lecturer got me hooked. From then on, I've wanted to understand how the weather and climate work! Like most people in the weather world, this has become a bit of an obsession.
4/ Do you have a favourite type of weather? Why does it appeal to you?
I can't go past a good shelf cloud. I love that calm moment when you see a shelf cloud approaching ahead of a thunderstorm. It's eerily placid before a sharp drop in temperature, a surge of dry wind and then the rain.
5/ In this moment, if you could click your fingers, where would you go to experience some fascinating weather?
It's technically not weather, but the aurora borealis/australis have always been on my bucket list. Either one would do!
6/ Do you have any frightening or intense weather stories?
Being in the business of alerting people/businesses about severe weather has helped me stay out of its way, at least in my adult life. However when I was a teenager, a large eucalyptus tree fell on our family home and the local news came to film a report while me and my brother were cutting up the tree. We thought we were famous!
7/ What has the weather taught you about life? Are there lessons or themes that have enriched your life?
The sun will always come back out.
8/ If you could have a t-shirt with the best weather photo ever on the front of it, what would it be?
Anything from Marko Korosec would make a great shirt. You can see his stuff on Instagram or Facebook.
9/ Would you wear cloud socks, if someone gave them to you?
Absolutely! Now I'm wondering why I don't already own cloud socks. Although I do have a pair of barometer cufflinks.
10/ If you could design a piece of weather jewellery for yourself or a friend, what would it look like?
A pair of lightning earrings would look...striking (sorry, bad joke).
11/ Do you have a favourite weather related song or certain music that connects you to the weather?
Dreams by Fleetwood Mac. I love the line 'thunder only happens when it's raining'