Sky News Weather is growing its team of dedicated experts, with the appointment of Bradlyn Oakes as meteorologist, bringing global weather knowledge to the Australian market.
Oakes, who has been a meteorologist for the last four years in the Canadian arctic, working in the Northern Lights capital of Yellowknife and Canadian province Saskatchewan, joins long-standing Sky meteorologists, Rob Sharpe and Alison Osborne.
Her expertise covering major global weather events complements Sharpe’s knowledge in weather data analysis and predictions and independent research. Meanwhile, Osborne brings local knowledge to the team, having served as a Maritime Warfare Officer in the Royal Australian Navy, specialising in meteorology, and involved in joint operations and deployments overseas.
She provided weather forecasts and tactical advice for ships and aircraft and also helped advise the Australian Defence Force with humanitarian and disaster relief operations during and after severe weather events.
As part of its deepening coverage, Sky News Weather has scheduled new hourly bulletins during the day combining Australian weather forecasts and news with global weather events. It has begun deploying its team of meteorologists and weather reporters to various parts of Australia to get eyewitness accounts of weather events as they happen and their impact on local communities.
Sky News Weather has enlisted the resources of CNN, Associated Press, Reuters, Fox News and Storyful to bring up-to-the-minute video of weather events around the globe, and explain why they are happening and the impact.
Sky News Weather has also invested in graphic technology to explain the cause of major weather events in Australia. To date, graphic packages on flooding and tropical cyclones have been executed using this emerging technology, with plans to disseminate more content around bushfires and thunderstorms in the coming weeks.
Chris Willis, head of news at Sky News Australia, said: “Weather forecasting is still the main task at Sky News Weather. Viewers want to know what the temperature and weather conditions will be in the days and weeks ahead. Our team of meteorologists give us the scientific expertise to provide that, and our weather reporters give us the ability to report on the impact of weather events. But, viewers have told us they also want to know the “why” of major weather events and our new style of graphic presentation will enable us to do that better”.
To complete the Sky News weather team, the meteorologists are joined by veteran News and Weather Presenters Lucy Polkinghorne and Rhiannon Elston.