Australian Weather Calendar celebrates 30 years
06/11/2013
The Bureau of Meteorology has released its 2014 Australian Weather Calendar today, showcasing a collection of landscape and environmental photographs taken across Australia.
Published jointly by the Bureau of Meteorology and the Australian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society, the popular not-for-profit calendar celebrates its 30th anniversary in 2014.
The theme of the calendar is community service, highlighting the scientific and technological advancements that enable the Bureau to provide even more useful and reliable services to the community, ranging from tsunami warnings to space weather forecasts.
The images selected represent each state and territory and aim to promote a broader understanding of the science of meteorology. More than 700 submissions were received in this hotly-contested photography competition.
The prestigious cover shot is of a mystical icy wonderland, taken in the middle of winter at Mt Field National Park in Tasmania by Grant Dixon of Hobart.
Mr Dixon said he endured a chilly wait in order to capture the photograph of rime deposits, which occur when fog is carried up mountains by wind and comes in contact with objects colder than zero degrees. When the tiny droplets in the water vapour freeze, they form the white ice known as rime.
With 30 years’ experience as a landscape photographer, Mr Dixon said conditions at the 1400-metre peak were particularly challenging when he took the stunning photograph at dusk.
“It was still freezing, with a brisk wind deflected up the cliff. I was trying to get a shot in very transient light before my fingers froze or moisture fogged up the lens,” he said.
Photographs inside the calendar include unusual cloud formations in Warrnambool, Victoria, a dramatic lightning display in Perth, a fiery willy willy in the Northern Territory, glowing Aurora Australis in Margaret River WA, a large and looming water spout in Bateman’s Bay NSW, a lonely raincloud in South Australia, snow-covered fields in NSW, rose-coloured storm clouds in Queensland and a vibrant orange sunset in north-west Tasmania.
Go to the Calendar page for more information.
