By Paul Millar
Grovedale’s Lindsay Smail is a self-confessed weather tragic – it’s been on his radar for as long as he can remember and now he’s logged it down in book form.
The man with all the historical statistics of the wettest, hottest, coldest days, months and years in Geelong, going back to settlement in 1838, says no books were previously available that dealt specifically with the region.
His latest book, Weather Wonders of Geelong, focuses on severe weather – and the region’s had plenty over the years.
The weird and the wonderful, the stifling hot days and the bone-numbing chill of the night all make an appearance in Mr Smail’s stunningly illustrated book.
One of the strangest notations goes back to 24 April 1934 when a Grovedale farmer thought something fishy was happening in one of his paddocks.
On closer inspection he found dead carp scattered around the fields, probably propelled there by a burst water main.
Mr Smail conceded that his passion came from the clouds, the sun and the moon.
He had lost count of the times he had been asked whether cold, hot or dry spells were records.
“Every time something happens I get the calls but it’s rarely a record,” he said.
For the record, Geelong’s hottest day was easy to remember: Black Saturday, 7 February 2009 when the mercury climbed to 47.4C as locals avoided the bushfires that killed 173 elsewhere.
The coldest night was 23 July 1994 when the temperature dipped to -4.3C.
The book also covers hailstorms, floods, snow and rare atmospheric events, many captured in pictures old and new.
Award-winning photographers Peter Redmond and Phil Thomson have contributed eye-catching weather images of Geelong and the region during violent or changing conditions, including stunning lightning and rainbow shots.
Mr Smail, a former high-school teacher who got out of the education system when he was 50 because he could no longer stand the bureaucracy, is a highly regarded expert in his field, giving advice to coroners and major-event organisers.
He said information on purchasing his book was available at geelongweatherservices.com.au.
