Following the decision to close tram stops in Collins St, Flinders St and Victoria Pde, and expectations that more will follow, there will be a funeral for tram stop 7 at Russell and Collins Streets on Monday:

Please bring your friends and colleagues, and join the Collins Street Precinct Association, the Public Transport Users Association, Collins St traders, residents and others to pay your respects to a tram stop that has served Melbourne well.

More information

The Bureau of Meteorology installed a multi-gazillion dollar supercomputer a year or two back, with the aim of improving the accuracy of weather forecasts.

How accurate are they? Well over about a week, I compared forecasts (including up to a week ahead of the day) against the actual weather reported the next day. I was seeking to answer these key questions:

• Do they alter forecasts markedly as the day gets closer?
• Are the all-important forecasts the day before actually accurate, so you know if you can leave the house without taking a brolly?
• Is this kind of detail so deadly boring and sleep-inducing as I’m suddenly suspecting it might be?

Notes: ? — oddly, on Saturday 7th of May, they weren’t brave enough to forecast more than 4 days ahead. And don’t ask me what the difference between “Mostly fine” and “Mainly fine” is.

If you’ve got nothing better to do: See all the figures (XLS, 19.5Kb)

In conclusion, it seems they’re pretty accurate, with temperatures usually within a couple of degrees of that forecast the previous day. Even the advance forecasts don’t change a great deal before the day. Mind you, we did have a run of fine autumn weather. But still, I’m suitably impressed.