Graeme Furler, Regional Director South Australia

He says he remembers vividly the excitement and anticipation of the day he left the Post Office and walked along the main street of what was then a country town, and opened that brown envelope to learn he had successfully gained a Cadetship in the Met.

On 16 February 1959, he reported to the front office of the Bureau on West Terrace in Adelaide to find that Bob Brook, Ian Mason and Steve West had also received similar letters.

"From that very first day with 'Doc' Hogan as Regional Director we were under the influence of an 'old hand' of strong character," Graeme said. "Errol Mizon, Bruce Mason, Lynn Mitchell, Angus Robin were amongst the team as I recall, and Ross Maine, Bob Walsh and Kevin Spillane were heading for the 'big smoke' at about that time".

On completion of the Met course in 1964, Graeme returned to Adelaide to really get a taste of what weather forecasting was all about. After about 10 months, Queensland wanted a relief Met and he was "thrown off the deep end" for a couple of months at Garbutt air base Townsville where experiences were memorable and probably gave OIC Alan Walker an additional grey hair or two, adds Graeme.

On return to Adelaide he continued on shift through to 1969 as Met 1 and later as duty forecaster in the Forecasting and Warning Section. During 1969 he transferred to Special Services Section SARO where the advent of the HO IBM Computer was starting to have impact.

The following year he was promoted to Met 3 in NMAC in Head Office and back on shift again in the Analysis Centre. Under the influence of "Gentleman George" Rutherford, and Messrs Langford, Falconer, Muffatti, Guymer and Noar, he learnt of satellites, systems hemispheric and models numeric.

Graeme says that shifts he vividly recalls were those that involved forecasts for a rescue of an injured climber from Heard Island, and the "doggo" shift the morning cyclone Tracy hit Darwin.

In 1976 he transferred to the Adelaide Regional Forecasting Centre as Senior Forecaster, and in 1980 with the retirement of Alan Brunt and the consequential appointment of Lynn Mitchell as RD, he was promoted to Supervising Met. Graeme pays tribute to the excellent guidance of Lynn Mitchell, under whose careful eye he learned to understand further the role and problems of an RD.

He says that like Len Broadbridge he has been influenced by many of the same people in the Bureau and acknowledges the assistance of those with whom he has worked. The need for cooperation between all categories of staff is recognised and has been demonstrated by new "highs" in times of crisis such as cyclone Tracy and the Ash Wednesday bushfires.

Graeme adds that he looks forward to filling this challenging position during the exciting years of innovation and new technology that lie ahead.

He and his wife Carleen have a teenage son, Brett, and two teenage daughters Suzanne and Christiane. He enjoys following their interests, and relaxes at the beach, swimming, jogging, gardening, and (time permitting) occasional board sailing, photography and genealogy.

Bureau of Meteorology