Weather, Waves and Water – The New South Wales Central Coast This book fills a much-needed void in providing a specialist description of the meteorology of the New South Wales Central Coast. This is an area that has progressed enormously over the past decade, and has now become a major social and tourist hub, strategically located between Sydney and Newcastle. Fishing, boating and tourism are of major importance in the area, to both locals and to the increasingly large population of Sydneysiders who have made the Central Coast a prime holiday location. All these activities are highly weather sensitive so a discussion of the unique local meteorology of the area seems timely. Told through the turbulent story of east coast lows, shipwrecks, thunderstorms, southerly busters, floods, dust storms and bushfires, the author, Richard Whitaker, provides a focussed insight to the “Weather, Waves and Water “ of the New South Wales Central Coast. Progress in the prediction of all these types of weather events is also discussed. Richard Whitaker has been a meteorologist for more than 50 years, and has written numerous publications about the weather. He is an active local community lecturer, delivering talks about meteorology to such groups as Probus, Rotary, Libraries, U3A, bushfire brigades, historical societies, schools and business groups. He served with the Bureau of Meteorology from 1971 to 2002, and then became Chief Meteorologist with the Weather Channel and Sky News Weather from 2004 to 2016. Today he lives at Terrigal on the Central Coast with his wife of 52 years. They have two children and five grandchildren. Contact: weathersmart047@gmail.com “Weather Waves and Water – The New South Wales Central Coast” can be ordered through the email above for a price of $34.00 – including postage.

Image: The wreck of the “Cawarra”, Newcastle Harbour, 12th July 1866 (http:trove.nla.gov.au/version/182163475:Woodcut by Frederick Grosse) ,