GOONDIWINDI now has its own weather station that gives locals a full picture of conditions so they can plan for the future.
The nearest real-time weather data was for St George or Moree — hundreds of kilometres away — and didn’t give locals accurate information about their area.
Goondiwindi Regional Council’s director of corporate services Jason Quinnell said the weather station updated local weather conditions every 10 minutes on the Bureau of Meteorology’s weather observations website and residents could upload their own observations including photos.
“Goondiwindi locals can now check live data including temperature, humidity, rainfall and wind, which we don’t get from other sources like radar or satellite images,” Mr Quinnell said.
The station is thanks to a Murray–Darling Basin Authority (MDBA) project. MDBA environmental management executive director Carl Binning said the new weather station was particularly helpful for local farmers, but would also be used by the MDBA to help it deliver the Basin Plan.
“Real-time information is now available to the people of Goondiwindi, which will help people on the land to plan things like when to spray crops or when to plant,” Mr Binning said.
He said local observation and input was highly valuable to the MDBA and to others in the basin interested in weather patterns and behaviour.
“Matching locally taken photos to weather data gives us a powerful monitoring tool and helps us understand things like how river flows can change even when rain has fallen hundreds of kilometres away,” he said.
“This is part of a project that will see a network of weather stations installed around the Murray–Darling Basin.
“Local information helps the MDBA fulfill its role in planning for the basin's water resources in the interest of the basin as a whole.
“The Basin Plan aims to ensure the water resources of the basin are shared effectively between all water users, striking a balance and maintaining a healthy system to support productive industries and sustainable communities.”
