anyone in the northern beaches recording the wind speeds atm??

Just went for a drive to the shops and was nearly blown off the road by a random gust of wind all the trees and everything around us almost blew over I reakon it woud have been 80km/hr easily....

Im showing max gust at 1348 of 31kph... would be a lot stronger in exposed areas..

was driving too the shops in trinity beach.. was just as we were going past the park before the shops.

was crazy, just a random strong gust. There has been strong winds around the last 2 days.

loving these cool windy days, adds a different element to the mix.

What a way to spend boxing day - http://bigpondnews.com/articles/National...ack_702627.html

yes alot of pythons around atm up here in the north

we had a coastal tiapan chillin on the footpaths around our resort the other week.

need to keep the eyes peeled on walks.

They are lucky he screamed out as he was intended as its summer meal. I noticed the media have tended to skirt the facts on this story though. I am told that the biggest scrubby ever seen in Qld was cooled around a mate's (now) wife when she was around 7 years of age near Tully back in the 1950's. Back then she slept on an old couch on the family porch in her extended family. Her mum went to check on her before going to bed early in the am and she was past the point of being able to scream. She wouldn't recall the incident now however as she is suffering dementia and under her husband's 24 hour care.

EC isn't looking much chop for rain until around the 10th at the moment. The MT seems to want to remain anchored near Indonesia for the forseeable future!! A lot can change in a week of course but what you see on satellite is pretty much expected to remain that way for a fortnight or so until a trough pushes through from the sth west .

It isn't actually that unusual to see this type of pattern in early January though. After last year's massive wet season people's expectations have become unrealistic!

Thanks Pac - I don't want to fork out the $185 that Davis want for a tripod. I was thinking maybe a sturdy aluminium pole (similar to Pool Fence post) cemented in ground and then strap a sturdy pole to that with weather instruments).

This is what I have on my roof for the anometer and it didn't budge in 77 knots of TC Yasi. They are available for around $50 bucks at the aeriel installer in Ishmael Rd that shares a shed with the Paving/ brick place (HiTech TV). Screwed down in 3 points with silicone seal I actually swung on it to test it. Damn strong. More importantly it allowed me to put a 3 metre (or 2.4 mtrs maybe?) post on it to clear the roof for accurate wind detection.

The rest is mounted off the fence on a post.

Doesn't really matter what you do, just use guy ropes and it should be good even during a cyclone. out at Clifton beach at the moment with dad having fish and chips, beautiful weather out here at the moment, nice cool breeze.

Totally stupid question - but when I measure my rain tomorrow at 9am (so far 11mm fell during today AFTER 9am today) that rainfall is marked for the 2nd of Jan - not the 1st right?

DU,.. that's correct.

FNQTOM forgot to mention the steel pole did reverberate slightly during TC Larry but not enough to cause any issues with the readings.

@ CF can only imagine the horror at waking up unable to move from a snake restricting ones body. We used to have carpet snakes in the house who would come through the gap under the door or the holes in the walls. Have many fond memories of trying to get them outta the house and then attempt to get back to sleep afterwards; not easy!

BTW CF how much rain did u end up with for 2011?

Ended up finally getting a decent tripod from my dad for Christmas, definitely made my night

Much better than the cheap $30 pieces of junk I've been using since forever.

I'm not sure as I lost all of my data for January and most for February.

A massive 0.4mm for this year so far!

@ CF- Damn that's a shame, hence why i read from my Nylex also in case good ole technology packs it in. Has anyone heard from Crystal? She hasn't posted in ages...

Is it a Manfrotto ?

Nah, it's one of the Slik brand ones. I was hoping to get a manfrotto myself at some stage, though this one is a LOT better than the ones I used to use!

I've got a Slik F740 and it's not too bad. Fairly light and not a problem to travel with. I take it the US all the time and once there it stays in the boot of the rental car with only the top section of each leg not extended. The base plate stays on the camera, so it's only half a minute to set it up and shoot.

I got the F630, on sale at wow sight n sound for like $60. Appears the F740 might even be the same model, if not, VERY similar.

Could be. Mine is abt 4 years old and also from Wow.