[iamthemonster]

I'm also a blow-in but I've been in Australia 14 years. "The BoM" is a fascinating Australian cultural artefact and even in weather-obsessed Britain (where Michael Fish was a household name in a similar category to Hitler and Stalin) there was nothing similar.

I think the parent comment goes some way to explaining something I find bizarre - the "extreme weather warnings" from the BoM, which they issue for every light breeze. I even have a fabric gazebo erected in my back yard, held down only by sandbags at the corners, and I don't have to disassemble it for every BoM "extreme weather warning" for wind/storms.

There are so many "extreme weather warnings" for wind that they'd be meaningless for everyone who's not in a small boat.

[ggm]

We loved Michael Fish. Nobody in my circuit mistook the Met Office for the NKVD. When he went off air, he had a fan club calling for his return.

[iamthemonster]

He came to talk at our school in the mid-90s and a journalist from the local rag was allowed to sit in the audience for some reason. The journalist asked about 1987 and Michael Fish visibly deflated and looked around the room with a look of "who let the journalist in" before finally inhaling and giving his speech about how technically he said the hurricane wouldn't hit us, he didn't say we wouldn't have a storm.

But you're right, I think it was a sensationalist tabloid talking point to say "Michael Fish missed the hurricane" but he was a well loved weatherman.

[ggm]

I knew a few people in the UK astronomy community, and the Met office was a great place for them. Michael fish's multicolour knitted tank-tops sort of personified the home counties tolerance for minor departure from the norms.

One of my astro chums at Bracknell rode a thumpingly noisy 4 stroke indian with a side-car, smoked hand-rolled menthol cigarettes and appeared to want to become Patrick Moore in size and demeanour. I like to think he fitted in well.