'The Weather Prophet rides on the horns of a dilemma, and during recent weekends he has been gored', said Mr G. G. Bond yesterday. The paper went on to say, 'He was explaining the dirty tricks played by the old man with a watering-can, during this the most surprising winter for many years.'

'We can forecast only on information received', added Mr Bond, 'and this is never complete. Cyclones and anti-cyclones, the main part of forecasting, do not travel in a prescribed direction, or at a definite speed like a train. Moreover, meteorological conditions are enormously complex. Still, our forecasts are not guesses, and nine times out of ten can be relied on.'[1]

It is the kind of remark that George Bond had made many times before, for he was nearing the end of a long career in the Queensland division of the Weather Service, the last twenty-six years as Divisional Meteorologist. It is the kind of remark that weather forecasters make still. Despite the great advances of science, and the availability of such sophisticated aids as radar and satellite photographs, the complexities of the weather remain, to confound modern forecasters almost as often as they did Mr G. G. Bond, fifty and more years ago.

George Grant Bond, Brisbane Weather Bureau Office (circa 1934)

Bureau of Meteorology