The Last ‘Met Family’ Depart Lord Howe Is this the End of an Era?

On Thursday, 20th February, Andrew Jenner’s rotation as local observer for the Bureau of Meteorology came to an end. During his six-month stay on Lord Howe, Andrew was accompanied by his partner, Rachel Tenni, who generously volunteered two mornings of her time at the Museum reception desk. Over Christmas, Andrew and Rachel were joined by their daughter, Josephine, their son, Oscar, and Oscar’s partner, Maya Harrington.

Andrew and Rachel had previously been a Lord Howe ‘Met family’ from July 1st, 2003, to June 30, 2005. Although Andrew has been replaced by Misty McCain, he understands that Misty’s job will be to transition the Lord Howe Met Station to being fully automated. Without the services of a resident observer, we will no longer have a Met family in our community. If all goes according to plan, Andrew and Misty will be the last Met observers to be resident on Lord Howe.

This ends an era that started 85 years ago in 1939, when the first professional Met Observer was appointed at Lord Howe. Since that time, the “Met families” have been a vibrant, integral part of Island life. While the observers provided vital local weather information to the Bureau (and to the Island community), their partners have worked in local businesses. Many have also volunteered to support community organisations like the Museum, Golf Club and Bowling Club.

Observer’s children have boosted numbers at the Island school, helping the school to retain its enviable “three-teacher” staffing level. For a few years prior to the Lord Howe telephone system being automated, the partners of Met observers jointly managed an operator-assisted telephone exchange thus, keeping Lord Howe in contact with the outside world. The “Met families” have been an important part of all our lives.

To acknowledge the end of an era, an informal gathering was held at the Met station on Friday, 31st January. In attendance were:

Andrew, Oscar and Josephine Jenner, Rachel Tenni, Maya Harrington, Ian Hutton and Doug Speedy (previous Lord Howe Met observers), Jack Shick and Cindy Charlton-Shick, Peter and Judy Riddle, Liz and Larry Wilson (all voluntary local observers for the B.O.M.), Brian Busteed (a Met maintenance man), Barney, Garth and Daphne Nichols (children of Mick Nichols, the only Island-born observer), Ian Pemble and John Sinclair (members of the Friends of Lord Howe Island), and Chris and Margaret Murray. At the gathering, all present signed a letter to the Island’s Federal MP, Tanya Plibersek, requesting a reversal of the decision to make the Lord Howe Met station fully automated.

A Blast From the Past special (Page 16 ) tracks the history of Meteorological Observation on Lord Howe. (Taken from “Lord Howe Rising” with the generous permission of author, Daphne Nichols.)