Big icon lights up in Stanthorpe
MORE THAN 100 Granite Belt residents descended on Leslie Parade in the freezing cold on Wednesday morning to witness a historical moment, almost 20 years in the making.
The Big Thermometer at Stanthorpe, Australia’s latest big icon, was switched on Tuesday afternoon and the first minimum temperature of -4.2 was recorded at 6.45am Wednesday.
Motorists on their way to work slowed down to look and morning joggers back-tracked their routes at the sight of the bright red temperature display to witness this special moment.
Members of the Stanthorpe Chamber of Commerce and volunteers who worked tirelessly on this projected were overwhelmed to see their work come to fruition.
By the end of this week the Big Thermometer will have LED lights through the centre of the structure.
The Big Thermometer may be the perfect place for tourists to visit, take photos and compare frosty minimums, there’s one problem - the temperatures aren’t officially recognised. The Bureau of Meteorology will continue to use the manual weather observations recorded by volunteers at Leslie Parade, along with the Automatic Weather System located at Applethorpe.
But the Chamber of Commerce and the Bureau of Meteorology are in talks now and will hopefully work together soon.