Expert BoM excuses about a solar panel leaning on bushes near Sydney’s official thermometer

By Jo Nova

Two days in a row, this blog has been quoted in the Daily Telegraph.

Congratulations to Clarissa Bye for shining a torch on the BoM

Craig Kelly found the wandering solar panel leaning on a bush near Sydney’s official thermometer, and I wrote about what a strange spot that was to leave a solar panel. Then Clarissa Bye of the Daily Telegraph picked up the story and on Jan 25th asked the BoM why the panel was there. After a whole week of missed deadlines, with pleas for extra time, The Daily Telegraph gave up waiting and published the story Wednesday:

Science blogger Jo Nova has also queried the solar panel’s location, describing the BOM as “lackadaisical” at best in maintaining weather sites. “The solar panel is exactly due south of the Stevenson screen where the thermometer is kept,” she said. “If, hypothetically, someone wanted to leave a reflective object pointed at the box at midday, that’d be the place to do it.”

““There’s only been one day above 30 degrees since February 21st last year in Sydney, and that was a day [...]