Weather award for rain man

Following the official opening, local Noel Briggs was presented with the Rainfall Excellence Award in recognition of his 57 years of voluntary service from 1954 to 2011 to the Bureau in reading and recording rainfalls in the Inglewood area.
Councillor Rick McDougall, on behalf of the Bureau of Meterology, presented Mr Briggs with a gold plated barometer to mark the occasion.
Councillor McDougall read a congratulatory letter from the Bureau which said Noel’s service had been exemplary and a wonderful achievement. It said the rainfall data collected over the years from Noel’s former property ‘Woodspring’ formed an integral part of Australia’s rainfall record and played an important part in national and global rainfall and water modelling.
Continuing, the letter said “Volunteers like yourself are a valuable resource to the Bureau and we could not do what we do without you”.
In response, Noel said he was honoured to receive the award. He said the work had involved reading the rainfalls and making monthly reports, however there had been some very lively times when there was flooding. When that happened, water heights were checked every hour and, when certain heights were reached, warnings were given via phone and UHF radio to irrigators downstream. He said it had been good to be able to help property owners and townspeople in such critical times.