Hi Everyone,

A few people have asked about this, and sadly I can confirm that earlier this week Keith Barnett suffered a severe stroke and passed away.

I had the pleasure of meeting Keith a few times when I was in Sydney. Keith often attended ASWA meetings (and even hosted a few at his house). Keith was an astutely honest and loyal person - you will not find a more honest person I can assure you. Keith enjoyed collecting weather observations and also was quite gifted with statistics and enjoyed combining the two. Keith was a regular and valuable contributor to this forum and I believe Keith was also a rainfall observer for the BoM. Outside of weather - Keith was a very talented musician.

My thoughts are with Keith's friends and family during this time - you will be very much missed!

Anthony Cornelius

Very bad news, RIP Keith!

A loyal and very long term supporter of Weatherzone Forums. RIP Keith, we have all benefited from his input, knowledge and debating skills over the years.

Damn that is indeed sad news Anthony. I enjoyed Keith's contributions and had some fine discussions with him a few years ago about siting of rain gauges, which I knew nothing about at the time. I will miss his posts and my thoughts are with his family and friends. RIP mate.

I will really miss "Keith"'s contributions to these forum threads, and his helpful e-mails to me.
We need such people with enquiring minds, common sense, and intellectual honesty in climate debates.

Such shocking news, Anthony. As I said yesterday, he was such an honest and knowledgable fellow and he was always so willing to take the time to answer questions and assist others wherever possible. He will be truly missed by us all.

Keith's posts were always required reading for me as well. Thanks for letting us know AC - I will miss his comments.

RIP Keith.

It good to talk to you few times, in most threads. Learnt a lot of things about climate from him. And he recently discussed in aspergers syndrome's thread earlier last week. It was good, but damn miss

Very sad news, I also remember meeting Keith a few times over the years and enjoyed talking to somebody that was a bit more contemporary in age - although I am a bit younger.

This is a great loss to the WZ community. I didn't have too much to do with Keith, but it's abundantly clear from his posts that he was a very knowledgeable bloke with a gift for analysis and not afraid to pull us "young whippersnappers" into line. His weather station at Kings Langley was excellent. Please pass on my condolences.

Very very sad news.He will be sorely missed on the wz forums for his honesty and knowledge of weather.
RIP Keith

I will certainly miss him, A life long knowledge of weather has come to end, he was a great source of knowledge, so sad to hear. Often he has made me look at climate history in other ways, and was a great link to the past.

:-(

I am very saddened to hear. I remember meeting Keith some years. His passion, enthusiasm and knowledge will be greatly missed to all the weather community. He was an all round nice guy.

RIP Keith. In God's care.

Great Guy, sadly missed. God bless you, Keith. Catch you later mate!

Very upsetting. So long mate.

Damn, this is horrible news. He always tried to help people out when he could and his input was greatly valued on these forums. RIP mate, you will sorely be missed.

Sad indeed. We came from opposite sides of the political spectrum but agreed on most things weather related. Had some great discussions with him over the years, especially when he was considering moving up to the Dorrigo region -was excited by that possibility and the chance to have two live stations so close to each other but so different at the same time. Was never meant to be.
I not only loved Keith's work on data but the number of times he would post on here, listen to the advice given and go away, work some more and come back with something even better than the great results h had already produced.
Blessings and love to you Keith, hope to see you on the other side some time.

Terrible news, rest in peace KB. Your input in these forums will be sadly missed, being the rainfall fanatic he was, may this weeks east coast rain event be in his honor! So long mate.

So long Keith. Never had the pleasure of meeting him, but from my discussions with him on these forum he was a dedicated, knowledgable lover of weather and was always willing to give his time to help myself and others. RIP Mate, you'll be missed sorely.

Sad to read the news here. I met Keith once and remember him to be a nice guy with a love of weather. I am sure he is at peace now though.

Very sad news. He wasn't that old either, so much too soon. Go with god mate.

Very sad news for all of us on WZ, enjoyed his input and will miss reading his posts. Words cant really express the grief many will feel.

So sad to lose such a good and decent man as Keith, he will be greatly missed by those he loved and shared his life with.

Didn't meet him personally, but saw many of his posts on the forums. A decent and knowledgeable man who will be missed.

Very sad news! Although i never met keith, I enjoyed reading is posts all the time and he definitely knew what he was talking about. I hope is family and friends will get through this.

Met Keith a few times at weather meetings. Shared daily forecasting with him Ben and Cloudmaster on the forums back in the early mid 2000's. He came across as a really good person who loved his weather. You'll be missed mate. RIP.

So sad to hear.
I read MANY of his posts on here & he was a recent friend of mine on Facebook. I really wished I could have personally met him.
Reminds me of a very true saying that I've heard: "When someone dies, it's like a library burning down."

I am happy that Keith has made it to his Eternal Home (Heaven) & I pray for condolence & comfort for his MANY friends & family in this time.

Kind Wishes & GOD Bless~~~Wet Snow

Very sad to hear of Keith's passing.
I always read his posts even if I didn't agree with all of them.
He didn't live far away from me either.
My condolence to his family.

[censored] aye... I had seen a few posts on facebook earlier today and was like...nah it couldnt be.,, what a sad moment in time and such a loss not just to his family and friends but the weather community and weatherzone alike.

Never had the pleasure of meeting him personally but followed many of his various posts.. such a knowlegeable bloke and so openly shared this with all, never biased. treated us all as one. If our views differed he would so kindly put across his views,. never belittled any of us. When some of us posted a dumb quesion, he was always the first to state only a dumb question has no answer, and 99.9% of the time he had a answer.

I did share a few long pm's with him over my time here and can say in all honesty without some of his words of wisdom i probably would not have made it through some of my darker moments in life. Im usually tough as nails and coated in dulux's finest but i best go find me a tissue.. rest in peace Keith.

They were the good ol days

His input will surely be missed on these forums as his posts were always well put together. Even if I didnt agree on something i admired the effort he took in piecing together his arguments.

Was guys like him that i looked up to when i joined all those years ago.

We can still look up to him Enrique, we all follow the weather and must look up to do so.. I know for one my next storm chase will be in honour of Keith!

R.I.P. Keith.

He will be missed by many on WZ, including myself. We didn't always agree on some things, but it didn't stop me from having a huge amount of respect for him. My thoughts are with his family and friends at such a saddening time.

R.I.P Keith .

His work in here was greatly appreciated , and I'm sure his good work will continue , with a spot reserved for him ABOVE .....

A good man ....

A further thought about Keith,if you ever wonderded what the parable of the Good Samaritian was about, just think about Keith, he was there if you down or misunderstood and had kind words to say to lift your spirit.

Thats exactly what i seen in Keith GDL, besides his knowledge in so many fields he had a darn huge heart of gold!

I haven't read through all these posts.
May I ask whether this was Keith from Kings Langley?
If it is, I'm terribly sad.

Homer

I believe it is.
Very sad.

Well, so am I.
I'm a relative amateur around these parts, so I was/am/still on the lookout for those that I admire and trust. In my time here, Keith was one such fella.
My faith in him was recent, but in my opinion, worthy.
You taught me stuff Keith. I appreciate it and thank you for your time.
I'm still very sad though at hearing this news.
For you and your family.

Homer

I also remember meeting Keith some years back at an ASWA meeting & enjoyed reading & learning from his posts here on WX Zone. This place & the weather community in general will be poorer for his passing. RIP Keith, you will be missed

Very very sad news, and came as a huge shock to me seeing as I had been to his house a few weeks ago and he seemed better than usual and in good spirits.

We were very close, and he was one of my best friends during my teenage years going on many road trips and stormchases, and was a great mentor and role model growing up. He was an amazing human being, one of the nicest I have ever met. If anyone was ever in need, he would always be the first to offer, and would always listen intently and give sound advice. It is especially sad as he was playing a huge part in my Honours project and seemed enthusiastic to be a part of it, and we were hoping to get some research published together in the thesis. He has given me all the data though, so I will work even harder on this project and dedicate it to him. It is a shame he had to go this early.

Huge loss, RIP Keith.

Sad indeed. We came from opposite sides of the political spectrum but agreed on most things weather related. Had some great discussions with him over the years, especially when he was considering moving up to the Dorrigo region -was excited by that possibility and the chance to have two live stations so close to each other but so different at the same time. Was never meant to be.
I not only loved Keith's work on data but the number of times he would post on here, listen to the advice given and go away, work some more and come back with something even better than the great results h had already produced.
Blessings to you Keith, hope to see you on the other side some time.

From his Church's Facebook site:

Keith Barnett’s funeral will be at 10:30am on Thursday April 19 - this coming Thursday.
At St Peters Seven Hills Anglican Church (97 Best Rd Seven Hills)

Will be thinking of him at that time. I sent his Minister a link to this thread in case he felt it would work to share some of the comments about Keith with the congregation. Hope this was OK with all who have posted here.

Thanks Kev...

He will be missed, he seemed to have been here for so long, a fixture. I hope it was quick.

Fine with me too Kev.

Just noticed this thread and it is very sad news, Keith will be missed very much on these forums.
R.I.P Keith.

Martin.

Never met Keith but he seemed to be a very knowlegable man! He Loved his data/weather & ECL's and past history weather, he will be sorely missed.

Rest in the hands of our Lord Keith. You will be missed on these forums without a doubt.

Hi All.

To Keith's family, this is sad news and may he rest in peace. He had been a valuable member of the Auspacwx forums for years where I first started over a decade ago. Sad to hear that he has passed and condolences go out to his family. Regards Shane.

Its rain events like this one that we have right now that got keith excited. Streaming never ending rain band from the NE onto the central coast and into sydney... he would give averages and peak rain rates and all the exciting stuff that goes along with a prolonged rain event.

Sadly I cannot make it to the funeral on tomorrow. Though i will visit the site in the next couple of weeks. A tragic loss and terribly missed by many of us.

Very sad news indeed! Whenever I read Keith's posts I always remarked to myself what a knowledgeable and wise man he was. I never met him, but I didn't have to, to know he was a fine person. May he rest in peace!

Rest in peace Keith, And condolences to his family . He will be missed.
Regards Doug.

I did not know Keith personally, but regarding the many posts from saddened members here on WZ, I gather he was an inspiration, very valued and knowledgable member of the WZ community.
I am sure her will be tremedously missed by many, many people and I offer my sincere condolences to his family and friends.
DuckWeather.

Very sad news about Keith.
A great contributor to these Forums.
Condolences to his family & friends

Have not been on the forum for a while and was very sadened to hear about this. I will miss his posts and updates. Please pass on my condolences to his family for me.
Duane.

I don't read the forums as extensively as I used to, usually just pop in briefly these days, so I was sad to finally read of Keith's passing. Keith was one of the original members here and at aussie-wx list, there are some lovely folk from that early era.

I echo the sentiments about his kindness and honesty. Five years ago (to the day, effectively) my family had a notable heart-ache (don't we all, at times) and Keith was one of the original forum members I reached out to. He was supportive and respectful and for that I will always be thankful.

You are with God now Keith, which would make you eternally happy, I am sure.