ABC News Breakfast weatherman Nate Byrne has thrown shade at the Bureau of Meteorology’s website following the agency’s controversial multi million-dollar revamp.
Byrne — who is a trained meteorologist and whose line of work makes him something of an expert — got in a subtle dig at the Bureau during a live segment on the morning news program on Friday.
While interviewing a group of school students, one child asked Byrne where he gets his weather data from, prompting the shady response. When a weatherman throws shade, you best believe it’s meteorologically accurate.
“Mostly from the Bureau of Meteorology, although that’s become a little more difficult recently,” Byrne quipped while offering a sly look to the camera. I’d say the BoM got burned, but I can’t even find the UV levels on the redesigned site.
Byrne later assured the student that the BoM website “is still usable… and good”, but it’s not the first time he’s addressed the update that sent scores of sky-looking Aussies into a downright tizzy last month.
Appearing on ABC Radio National at the height of the backlash, Byrne described the revamps — which included layout changes and a redesign of the rain radar, among other updates — as an “absolute nightmare”.
“I’m having trouble finding half of the stuff I usually use to do my job every day… [The BoM] replaced an awful website with one that’s not servicing their customers in the way that the customers are expecting,” Byrne said.
He’s far from the only one to express frustration with what the BoM initially called its “modern and sleek” redesign.
The hullabaloo got so loud that some members of the federal government, including Energy Minister Chris Bowen and Environment Minister Murray Watt, called on the Bureau to work on improvements in consultation with state and territory emergency services ministers.
The costs surrounding the revamp did little to quiet the noise. Updates to the front-facing aspects of the BoM reportedly cost $4.6 million, but it turns out that was just the tail-end of a much bigger IT overhaul at the agency that set it back a whopping $86 million.
Given all that dosh, it’s no wonder folks like Byrne are getting jabs in while they can. Forecasting high levels of shade but somehow with a chance of copping heat.
Lead images: Facebook and ABC News Breakfast
The post ABC’s Nate Byrne Couldn’t Resist Throwing Shade At The BoM’s ‘Difficult’ Redesign appeared first on PEDESTRIAN.TV .
