3AW’s David Armstrong. Image: Nine Radio
Just a day after the Bureau of Meteorology launched its new-look website, the changes have gone down like a lead weather balloon – not least among people who work in radio.
BoM says its new website was designed in consultation with the community to make sure it delivers the information that people want.
Tell that to people like Craig Smith, a community radio announcer at Switch Brisbane who relies on the BoM website – sometimes at short notice – to read out a weather warning or a forecast.
“All of the things are now very hard to find and are no longer easy to read at a glance,” says Craig. “Surely I am not the only one in this industry who relies on this service.”
Craig got in touch with Radio Today, to see if there’s been any similar industry feedback on the changes.
There most certainly has.
3AW Breakfast newsreader David Armstrong wasted no time teeing off on the new website, saying he is ‘filthy’ over the changes.
Venting his displeasure with Ross and Russ on 3AW Breakfast this morning, Armstrong branded the new system “totally and absolutely unusable!”
“It’s inpenetrable! It is the most difficult thing!”
“I’m a simple man. I don’t like things to be difficult. I just want to know ‘What’s the temperature in Geelong?’”
Sharing Armstrong’s frustration was 3AW producer Damian Tardio, who said “Whoever did that, can they please put it back to the original? Because it is completely and utterly STUFFED.”
On social media, SEN commentator Adam White lamented “I can’t believe what they’ve done to the Bureau of Meteorology website. Very disappointing and frustrating. And unnecessary.”
Responding to criticism over the website changes, Senior BoM Meteorologist Angus Hines told ABC 774 Drive host Ali Moore that the system was due for a refresh to bring it into the modern age.
“We’ve now got graphs all around the country that track forward the hourly forecast in terms of your temperature, how it feels, whether you’re expecting rain, what the overhead conditions are like.”
Hines says all the same weather observations are still there. Finding them might just take a little bit of getting used to.
“It looks a bit different. It plays a bit different. But all the important information is still there. You might have to find it in a slightly different way, but it IS still there.”
So with all that in mind, here is the latest Radio Today forecast, which reads as follows:
The change will bring unsettled conditions today and into the weekend with local (and vocal) wind gusts and squalls and a possible storm in a teacup before calmer conditions prevail.
Temperatures will return to almost normal range after some respite from the hot-under-the-collar spell and a rather frosty early start will lead to a thawing later in the day.