Bureau of Meteorology

[Jabiru7252]

Apparently the Bureau of Meteorology wants us to use the term "The Bureau" and never use "BOM" when referring to them. I want to encourage everybody to ignore this (expensive) stupidity and to continue using BOM and Bureau of Meteorology. Another example of needless stupidity from very silly people.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-10-18/bureau-of-meteorology-plibersek-rebrand-floods-bom/101547984

 

 

[turboplanner]

2 hours ago, Jabiru7252 said:

Apparently the Bureau of Meteorology wants us to use the term "The Bureau" and never use "BOM" when referring to them. I want to encourage everybody to ignore this (expensive) stupidity and to continue using BOM and Bureau of Meteorology. Another example of needless stupidity from very silly people.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-10-18/bureau-of-meteorology-plibersek-rebrand-floods-bom/101547984

 

 

Interesting; it used to be named the "Weather Bureau" and this was too down-class for the management at the time so they went with a very expensive re-identification programme for the up-market "Bureau of Meteorology" and had to spend even more money after the change explaining to half of Australia what the word Meteorology meant. And how many people have ever bothered to find out what Bureau means?

 

[RossK]

Do they realise who people are referring to when they say "the Bureau" in the US? 😬

And lets face, we are inundated with US TV here - when someone says "the Bureau", who do you think of?

 

I suggest we call them, "Da BoM Shak-alaka"

[skippydiesel]

The desire/move to change a departments name would seem to be very common and in most instances, without any objective reasoning or goal. 

It usually occurs about the time that there is a change in administration & the imposition of a range changes, designed to demonstrate the superior capacity of the new order.

I have always suspected it is as a result of an external (read very expensive) consultant purporting to be a "marketing" expert wishing to justify their fee.

The net result is always very expensive (the tax payer will cough up) of dubious benefit, characterised by customer/client confusion, frustration & even anger and demoralisation of the staff - in short inefficiency.

[onetrack]

Yes, the BOM really does need to change its name - preferably to a much catchier, long acronym. As it stands, "Bureau" is a word with French roots, and refers to a covered desk. Not a good starting point. No-one likes the French.

 

"Meteorology" is a confusing word, this has a Greek origin, and comes from the Ancient Greek words "μετέωρος metéōros" (meteor) and "-λογία - logia" (-(o)logy), meaning “the study of things high in the air.”

 

Thus, "Meteorology" makes the plebs imagine these people study up on meteors, to acquire weather forecasts - which may seem pretty right to a lot of people, such is the BOM's weather forecasting accuracy on many days.

 

I'd like to suggest the BOM change its name to "Dept of Good Guesses Sometimes" - because it becomes quite obvious on many days, that the BOM forecast was little more than a good guess.

 

"The DOGGS reckon it might rain today", has a good ring to it, and it sounds like a good reference to animals - and everyone knows that animals are the best weather forecasters, by far.

 

No need to thank me for this catchy and important upgrade to the BOM name - I enjoy this sort of nation-building work, and my consultants invoice will be in the mail shortly.

 

P.S. - As a interesting footnote, the Bureau in W.A., many years ago, had the brainlessness to announce that they had achieved a record result in weather forecasting accuracy - they had reached a new, high accuracy level, of 48%.

 

Right about then, someone pricked their balloon by stating, that if the BOM had totally reversed its weather forecast for every single day of the preceding year (i.e. - said it was going to be sunny, instead of forecasting rain, or forecasting rain when they said it was going to be sunny) - then the BOM would've been able to claim an accuracy level of 52%!! 

 

I guess I don't need to mention that we never heard the BOM mention accuracy percentages in annual forecasting performance, again.

 

Edited October 19, 2022 by onetrack

[red750]

2 hours ago, RossK said:

when someone says "the Bureau", who do you think of?

FBI. ATSB?

 

Why not "Dept of Lick Your Finger and Hold it up in the Air"?

[facthunter]

Bureau also means office or department in French. I don't mind them. They've made some good stuff and a lot of Poms have french ancestry.. Nev

[red750]

I have a nephew and a brother-in-law both working in the BOM here in Melbourne. Not that that has anything to do with it.

[facthunter]

We won't hold that against you red. nev

[Yenn]

Wasn't it the BOM who thought up the name BOM? I certainl didn't and it is accepted on the net. Look up Bom and you get the weather bureau.

[RossK]

50 minutes ago, Yenn said:

Wasn't it the BOM who thought up the name BOM? I certainl didn't and it is accepted on the net. Look up Bom and you get the weather bureau.

Yep, their website is bom.gov.au and the app is BOM weather.

WTH do they expect people to call them.....🤦‍♂️

Edited October 19, 2022 by RossK
awesome grammar

[Blueadventures]

Would have been handy many years ago when that dropped piece of paper with BOM on it was found and lead to a bomb alert and responce.

[spacesailor]

Bureaucratic guessers 

But the B G s were good .

spacesailor

[facthunter]

BOM is accepted why alter things?  I think it's a non-prophet organisation.  Nev

[Student Pilot]

It has been said they spent several hundred thousand dollars cooking up the scheme to change what people call it. All they hve done is entrench that people will call ti the BOM. Farkum 250k!!!!!! Just because some stuckup shinybum wants it? 

[Old Koreelah]

10 hours ago, RossK said:

Do they realise who people are referring to when they say "the Bureau" in the US? 😬

And lets face, we are inundated with US TV here…

Good point Ross. In an emergency, so many silly people in this country call the American number (911) that our people have had to install a link so their calls get diverted to the real number, 000 or 112.

[GraemeK]

So are they going to rename the "BOM Tower" tracking point in Melbourne?

 

I never really felt comfortable advising Avalon Approach that I was tracking to BOM Tower!!

[Jabiru7252]

A few years ago some members of the Adelaide Soaring club did a tour of our BoM establishment here is South Australia. I really enjoyed it, and their super computer can play Quake III Arena like no other....

[turboplanner]

That's all off now.

 

[NT5224]

Hi folks

 

Just an observation. The BOMs predictions for weather in northern Australia have been totally inaccurate this year. They have missed major storms that nearly took the roof off my house. Predicted rain when there hasnt been any and issued flood alerts hours after we had heavy rain storms. 

 

They literally issue wild weather warnings after the event and update their website retrospectively to cover their tracks....its crazy...

 

This performance is far far worse than it was even a couple of years ago. What has happened? I hear they shut down regional offices a couple of years back.

 

Alan

[facthunter]

They got rid of "observers" and using those balloons to map the airmass so now it's all a computer based prognosis. When the MSL Isobars have sharp kinks in them you have to suspect that. It usually shows in forecasts  beyond  say, two days. Nev

[Yenn]

They are not really predicting weather, but the likelihood of a weather event. Ths chart will show rain for all of SE Qld for instance, but then look at their likelihood and it may be 5%.

They haven't got worse over the years, but they haven't got much better either.

[NT5224]

31 minutes ago, Yenn said:

They are not really predicting weather, but the likelihood of a weather event. Ths chart will show rain for all of SE Qld for instance, but then look at their likelihood and it may be 5%.

They haven't got worse over the years, but they haven't got much better either.

Yenn 

 

Call it what you like. The BOM is useful and deserves our tax dollars only as long as they can forecast weather with some level of accuracy. A prediction of a probability of a weather event is not what a farmer needs for his crops or a fisherman needs before setting sail, or you or I need for flight planning.

 

They can couch what they do in any terms they like, but if they're underperforming they have more to worry about than what people call them. 

 

Alan 

[facthunter]

However the forecast errs THEY are protected by law from being prosecuted. Nev

[coljones]

On 19/10/2022 at 2:49 PM, facthunter said:

BOM is accepted why alter things?  I think it's a non-prophet organisation.  Nev

But it isn't private enterprise so it needs to be ahead of the game during budget time otherwise the smarties from the right wing media and the right wing think tanks will start up a pogrom of misinformation.  How good do you think windy weather would be if they didn't get a daily feed of free data from BOM.