Wodonga’s Martin Shanahan says: I didn’t know we didn’t have one.
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West Wodonga’s Jean Dudley says: What they get over there and what we get here are two different stories.
WODONGA residents want their own weather station.
Yesterday a street poll along High Street found most people believed the records taken at the Albury airport weather station were out of touch with Wodonga, particularly when it comes to rain.
Even the city council thinks it would help.
Eighty-six years of records were taken at the Wodonga post office before that weather station was closed in 1984.
A weather station has operated at Albury airport for more than 40 years, the current records taken by a station opened in 1993.
West Wodonga’s Jean Dudley said last weekend’s downpour highlighted the difference.
“We had 42mm up near the golf course and another neighbour got the same but the official figure was 26mm from Albury, that’s a joke,” she said.
“What they get over there and what we get here are two different stories when it comes to rain. I think the temperatures would be pretty close but the difference in rain is ridiculous.”
The idea won cautious support from Wodonga Mayor Mark Byatt.
“For a number of years, the council has recognised that a weather station in Wodonga would help raise awareness of our city on a national level and may also be beneficial for early detection of oncoming storms,” he said.
“However, we also acknowledge the difficulty in this task given the Albury weather station is located in close proximity.”
Wodonga Raiders official Pat Williams has worked at Albury airport for 15 years.
Now, part of his job includes the manual check of the weather station each morning.
“Surprisingly, there is a big difference between what happens here and on the other side of the river,” he said.
“Some days you’ll leave Wodonga in the rain and it is completely dry in Albury and vice versa.”
Martin Shanahan has lived in Wodonga for 40 years and didn’t know the weather records came from Albury.
“I would have thought we already had a weather station in Wodonga,” he said.
“But I reckon we should have one.”
Mat Poppins, who maintains his own weather station in Stanley Street, claims there is a difference in temperatures from the airport to Wodonga.
“Clearly, in the centre of Wodonga, as with the centre of Albury, you have the added impact of radiant heat from bitumen and buildings,” he said.
“If it is 32 degrees at the airport it is almost certainly 35 degrees in the heart of the CBD.”
Chiltern’s Adrian Weber says: When you think about it there should be a weather station (in Wodonga).
Wodonga’s Pat Williams says: Some days you’ll leave Wodonga in the rain and it is completely dry in Albury.