THE MITTA MITTA COUPLE WHO HAVE RECORDED THE WEATHER FOR 63 YEARS
For 63 years, Ernie and Merrillyn Cole have been quietly recording the weather from the same house in north east Victoria.
Now in their 80s, the Mitta Mitta couple are hoping someone will finally let them take a holiday.
Six decades of weather watching
The couple arrived in the Mitta Mitta Valley in 1963, when Mr Cole was working as a state government forestry officer.
Part of his job was reporting the weather to the Bureau of Meteorology from a station outside their home.
Mrs Cole soon took over the daily task so her husband could get to work early.
She often did it while caring for a baby and a toddler, which will make plenty of busy mums smile.
As the ABC reported on November 9, the pair still send their rainfall totals to the bureau today.
Mr Cole is now 86 and Mrs Cole is 82.
A record that goes back more than a century
Mitta Mitta has weather records dating back to 1915.
In the 1960s, Mr Cole took over the earlier records from the local postmistress.
He is passionate about keeping them accurate, and he says any future readings must be taken at exactly the same spot.
For many years, the bureau phoned Mrs Cole every day for reports on temperature, wind, frost and fog.
About a year ago, the bureau told her she only needed to call in rainfall when there was a big downpour.
Why the couple want a weather station
After more than six decades, the Coles would love to travel more and enjoy a well-earned break.
They are asking the bureau to install an automatic weather station at their home so the record can continue without them.
"We want to keep this record going," Mr Cole told the ABC.
For now, when they go away, their friend and neighbour Russell "Ned" Kelly steps in.
Mr Kelly is a retired pilot who runs the local airfield, and he has put off his own holidays in the past to cover for them.
He has also been pushing the bureau to install a station at the Coles' house.
Why local weather records matter
Mr Kelly says rainfall can vary hugely across the valley.
He gave the example of a site just 10 kilometres away that received about 300 millimetres more rain.
He also believes rainfall in the area has been steadily declining over the past 100 years.
Without a local record, he says, farmers would not know that.
Mitta Mitta and its surrounds had just 171 residents at the 2021 census, so every helping hand counts.
What the bureau says
The bureau runs more than 650 automatic weather stations around Australia, and about 3,000 manual observation sites remain.
Since the 1980s, automatic stations have gradually replaced many of the manual ones.
The bureau did not confirm or rule out a new station at Mitta Mitta.
It pointed to two automatic weather stations 39 kilometres away and an automatic rain gauge six kilometres away.
It also said it has no plans to stop volunteer rainfall readings at Mitta Mitta, and it will train a new volunteer if someone comes forward.
The quiet heroes of our communities
It is easy to check a weather app without thinking about where the numbers come from.
Yet across the country, ordinary people like the Coles have spent decades helping to build the records that farmers, scientists and forecasters rely on.
Their story is a gentle reminder of how much difference one small daily habit can make when it is kept up with love and care.
If you live in a regional area and enjoy keeping an eye on the sky, volunteering as a rainfall observer could be a rewarding way to give back.
Here is hoping Ernie and Merrillyn get that holiday very soon, with the rain gauge in safe hands while they are away.
