Nelson Mandela Bay’s eight-year drought, which finally broke at the end of 2023, got people talking about the weather like never before, related to a growing need for factual information and easy to understand analysis.
That’s the view of the Weather Guru and The Herald sister paper Weekend Post’s columnist Garth Sampson, who will be retiring in March from his long-time position as Eastern Cape client liaison officer for the SA Weather Service.
However, he said he planned to continue working informally in the sector he loves.
Sampson, 59, said though farmers had traditionally always had an eye on the weather, urban communities were less interested because they were more sheltered from the elements.
However, this was changing as extreme weather events were testing everyone’s defences.
“If you go by the followers on my Weather Guru Facebook page, more people are interested in the weather than ever before.
“The recent drought has got more tongues wagging about the weather than anything else.
“Former Herald managing editor Robert Ball once said to me that the most read article in the media is a weather article, and that’s very much in line with the strong response I get on my Facebook page, and feedback on my column.”
He said one of the side effects of all the weather applications and information now available was a plethora of “instant experts”.
But incorrect interpretations, skewed agendas, and conspiracy theories rendered these dubious at best, and there was a growing need for informed explanation and analysis.
Sampson was born and bred in Gqeberha. He went to Sydenham Primary and then Lawson Brown High School, with a short stint at Muir College.
“I was never interested in weather per se, but was very interested in geography.
“After a motorbike accident, my post-matric military service was delayed by six months.
“My mother was not giving me a gap year, so she called the local meteorological office and they welcomed me. They were suffering a severe staff shortage at the time.
“I was not happy about the shifts but I knew as a member of their staff my military call-up would switch to the air force from the infantry, and that made up my mind.”
He said in the early 1980s when he joined the met office, all training was supplied in-house.
“It was all hands-on in-service training. I did relevant courses within the organisation, and also a higher diploma management course, majoring in economics and statistics.
“By my scheduled retirement at the end of March I will have been there for 42 years.
“I suppose my additional studies helped a lot with the direction I took, especially with media liaison and the statistical side of weather.”
The SA Weather Service is a member of the World Meteorological Organisation and traces its lineage back to the Cape of Good Hope Meteorological Commission, established in 1860.
The Union of SA’s Weather Service was established in 1912 under the irrigation department.
At some point between 1912 and 1940, the organisation became the Meteorological Service, and in 1940, during World War 2, it became the responsibility of the department of defence.
In 1949, the organisation was transferred to the transport department, and it became the SA Weather Bureau.
In 1986 the bureau was moved to the environment department and, in 2001, the bureau became the SA Weather Service.
Sampson said he loved the varying demands of his job.
“The thing I enjoy most is the diversity of the people I liaise with and the environments they find themselves in from insurance and leisure to sport and construction.
The list goes on forever and each sector has a unique need of statistics and advice about the weather.
“No day goes by without me learning of some other need or use for weather data.”
He said climate change had added another layer of complexity to the work of meteorologists.
“Climate change is of course a global phenomenon taking place over a long period, and the demand for data to prove or disprove theories has increased exponentially.
“We now have a section that just deals with academics to reduce our workload in this regard.”
He forecast a mixed bag of activities to fill his time after he retired.
“I will always be passionate about the weather and hope to continue to write my column, which I love doing.
“Besides writing for Weekend Post, I want to expand to other regions and sister publications to gain a wider audience.
“I want to get the real weather to the people, the way they want it.
“I will be giving presentations, and have just been invited to be a guest speaker at a function in Paarl, for instance. I have also been asked to do consulting work by various institutions.
“So I will be busy on the weather front.”
He said he would also be tending to his bonsai trees, his large petunia collection, and veggie garden, and would be continuing with woodwork and metalwork projects.
“I will be travelling a bit with my wife, Elmarie, who likes booking trips where there is no cellphone reception.
“But I will not be leaving Nelson Mandela Bay and, for those who want weather presentations, I am always happy to impart my experience and knowledge.”
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