After sailing up and down the coast for a few years full time you get to know which ones are good and which ones you need to make adjustment for. To be homest though you are really only using them for passage planning (go or no go) and weather model confirmation, it would have to be a very serious (read cyclone) sustained average for the big ships to care. So if one station is wigging out you would take the sustained average over a few hours and compare that to stations around it and see how it fits in with the latest Bom ACCESS model (which can be spookily accurate over 1-2 days)

As you get further North it gets easier as they have stations on the coast and out on the reef. Land stations are always a bit crap because they are at the point of deflection where the wind gets bent northwards in a SE'er and probably a lot of turbulence in the afternoon in a Northerly where the prevailing wind is starting to compete with the sea breeze. Like yesterday when it was blowing between NE and W (Sunny coast). Overall though I reckon the BoM is the only real gov department Im happy paying taxes for, the peeps do a great job and their online and radio services are excellent.

It can be really difficult to find locations that have power, communications, servicability, are secure (from vandals & environment) .. as well as being free from wind obstructions. Sometimes obstructions can appear years after the initial install.

Dl33ta said...
Overall though I reckon the BoM is the only real gov department Im happy paying taxes for, the peeps do a great job and their online and radio services are excellent.

Totally agree .. BoM are a fantastic crew.

I did once find a reference point at Rainbow stating 8m in elevation that seemed pretty accurate. Am guessing it was at or near the surf club where there is a Coastalwatch camera. Can't remember the website though. This site seems fairly reliable, though am guessing it also uses the headland station:
www.meteorology.com.au/local-conditions/qld/rainbow-beach