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BAMOS April 2025
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November) emerging for many southern districts( Figure 2). This rainfall volatility may be associated, at least in part, with the behaviour of the Southern Oscillation Index( SOI) that fell from a 6-month mean of + 6.0( October 1962 to March 1963) to a 6-month mean of-6.7( June 1963 to November 1963)*.
The BOM classified the September to November dry spell as part of a weak El Niño that extended through to March 1964, but remarked that“ there is a strong probability that other influences( apart from the SOI) helped to cause the anomalously low rainfall”. The preceding April to June wet spell was likely produced by a combination of other climate drivers.
Second attempt
Campbell returned to the lake in 1964, and in better, but still not ideal conditions, set a new world land speed record of 648.75 kph, disappointed that he could not go faster. Bluebird was clearly capable of doing so and was still accelerating as it exited the measured distance, being clocked at 710 kph. One of the main reasons for the slower-than-planned speed was that the track had not fully recovered its rock-hard surface from before April 1963, preventing Campbell from achieving his full speed potential.
Interestingly, Bluebird is still considered one of the most advanced cars ever built. In January 2012, Adrian Newey, F1 racing car designer for Red Bull, wrote in Racecar Engineering Magazine:“ I think in terms of one of the biggest advances made, although it was not strictly speaking a racing car, was Bluebird. Arguably for its time it was the most advanced vehicle. It was the first car to properly recognise, and use, ground effects. The installation of the jet turbines is a nightmare, and it was constructed using a monocoque working with a lot of lightweight structures. It was built in a way that you build an aircraft, but at the time motor racing teams weren’ t doing that.”
Figure 1: The Australian rainfall deciles for the 3-month period April to June 1963. Credit: Bureau of Meteorology
Figure 2: The Australian rainfall deciles for the 3-month period September to November 1963. Credit: Bureau of Meteorology
* Data is available in a table. Click‘ Show table’ to view it.