BAMOS June 2017
15
Vale Jim Davidson
Michael Hewson and the AMOS-Q Committee
Let us note with sadness the passing of AMOS stalwart and retired Bureau of Meteorology Queensland Regional Director , Jim Davidson . Jim succumbed to a prolonged illness on the 16th of May 2017 . Our thoughts continue to be with his wife Sharyn , his children Dean and Melanie and his grandchildren Jake and Lachlan .
Jim is warmly remembered by his former colleagues , not only for his outstanding efforts in representing the Bureau in Queensland and his contributions to the Bureau ’ s national leadership , but also as a compassionate and community building leader . Members of AMOS remember his warmth and friendship and his continued commitment to keeping the collegiate activity of AMOS going .
Apart from his international work on tropical cyclones , Jim made a significant contribution to the WMO Public Weather Services Programme , where his experience and wisdom is a lasting legacy .
Jim spent more than a decade as the Queensland Regional Director and he had indicated that his most treasured role in that time was to serve the public . He recounted a story that just a few months after a Brisbane newspaper ran this article and picture ( right ) in 2007 , the heavens opened over Queensland with five relatively wet seasons to follow ...
Jim started a science vocation with the then Defence Science , Weapons Research Establishment on the Skylark Rocket Project before joining the Bureau in early 1969 — just as Tropical Cyclone Ada slammed in to the Whitsundays in January 1970 . From the Tropical Cyclone Warning Centre , Jim was transferred to Port Moresby for almost three years . Apart from short stints in Darwin and Townsville , Jim was a Queensland Regional Office bench forecaster ( as he called it ) until 1987 . A transfer as inaugural head of the Severe Weather Unit beckoned from which , three years later , Jim was promoted to Queensland Weather Services Manager – a post he held for some 12 years before being appointed Queensland Regional Director in 2002 .
Jim remembered with some satisfaction that there was no reported direct loss of life or serious injury when severe Tropical Cyclone Yasi made landfall early 2011 . He attributed this to Queensland ’ s successful multi-agency approach to disaster management . Jim always warmly acknowledge the ongoing and exceptional work of his colleagues and their contribution to the successes enjoyed by the Queensland Region . In many ways , this sums up Jim ’ s character and collegiality .
Image : Michael Hewson