Sunday 11th February 10.17a.m. Grey cloud / long sunny gaps. Ligh wind 7.4 / 11.1kph S, Hg 49%, Temp 23C / 73.4F feels cooler, headed for 24C / 75F
Moon is 4%
Hazardous Surf Warning for New South Wales
Issued at 4:44 AM EDT on Sunday 11 Feb 2024.
Surf and swell conditions are expected to be hazardous for coastal activities such as rock fishing, boating, and swimming in the following areas.
Hmm, they were wrong last time.
Sensationalist reporting and social media are being blamed for driving fear and anxiety about weather amid confusion about how to understand official forecasts.
The Bureau of Meteorology says reporting of its forecasts by mainstream and social media has focused on "more sensational elements" and its messaging is "crowd[ing] out fact-based forecasting".
"A lot of third-party reporting of El Niño and actually, just more broadly, the Bureau's observations, forecasts and warnings are often reported in their most sensational form by third parties ... that has been a challenge for us," the Bureau's chief customer officer Peter Stone said.
"We always need to work hard to make sure that our forecasts are received as accurately as we intend them to be."
Australians who rely on weather forecasts to make business decisions say the speculation and subsequent official declaration of an El Niño weather pattern, expected to bring warmer and drier conditions, created a sense of fear.
It's not their fault graziers off-loaded cattle and lambs to pricey agistments or below-market stock sales to save on feed overheads.