Person
Falls, Rex (1941 - 2025)
- Born
- 4 February 1941
Australia - Died
- 2 May 2025
Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia - Occupation
- Meteorologist
Summary
Rex Falls was a meteorologist widely recognised as a leading analyst and forecaster in the field of tropical meteorology and tropical cyclones. His career was spent in the Bureau of Meteorology, mostly in the regional offices in Darwin and Brisbane: he was Regional Director for these offices for over 20 years. Here he played a leading role in the development of Australian tropical meteorology and tropical cyclone forecasting. He was the driving force for the implementation of the Bureau's 'Automated Tropical Analysis System', and inaugurated the Northern Territory region's climate monitoring 'Darwin Tropical Diagnostic Statement'. During his time as Regional Director in both Darwin and Brisbane, he led or served on a number of Territory and State Government natural disaster committees and planning bodies. He was much respected as a role model for Bureau Regional Directors. For his contributions to Australian meteorology he was awarded the Public Service Medal and elected an Honorary Member of the Australian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society in 2007.
Details
Chronology
- 1959
- Career position - Cadet Meteorologist, New South Wales regional Office, Bureau of Meteorology
- 1962
- Education - BSc, University of Sydney
- 1963
- Education - Assoc.Dip.App.Physics (Meteorology), Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology
- 1963
- Career position - Meteorologist, Adelaide Airport, Bureau of Meteorology
- 1963 - 1964
- Career position - Meteorologist, Darwin Airport, Bureau of Meteorology
- 1964 - 1966
- Military service - Forecaster (Fl. Lieutenant), RAAF Butterworth, Malaysia
- 1967 - 1974
- Career position - Meteorologist, Northern Territory Regional Office, Bureau of Meteorology
- 1974 - 1975
- Career position - Supervising Meteorologist, Queensland Regional Forecasting Centre, Bureau of Meteorology
- 1975 - 1977
- Career position - Senior Meteorologist, Northern Territory Regional Office, Bureau of Meteorology
- 1977 - 1984
- Career position - Regional Director, Northern Territory Regional Office, Bureau of Meteorology
- 1980
- Career position - Visiting Scientist, US National Hurricane and Experimental Meteorological Laboratory, Miami, Florida, U.S.A.
- 1985
- Career position - Member of the Bureau of Meteorology scientific delegation to China
- 1985 - 2000
- Career position - Regional Director, Queensland Regional Office, Bureau of Meteorology
- 1990 - 2000
- Career position - Chair, Queensland Flood Warning Consultative Committee
- 1994
- Award - Public Service Medal
- 1995 - 2000
- Career position - Co-Chair, Queensland Tropical Cyclone Co-ordinating Committee
- July 2000
- Life event - Retired
- 2007 - 2025
- Award - Honorary Member, Australian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society
Related entries
Published resources
Books
- McAlpine, J. R., Keig, Gael and Falls, R., Climate of Papua New Guinea (Canberra: CSIRO and Australian National University Press, 1983), 200 pp. Details
Journal Articles
- 'Regional Director Queensland', Weather News, 271 (May 1985) (1985), 10-11. Details
- Fletcher, Peter, 'Queensland Regional Director Calls it a Day', Weather News, 325 (August 2000) (2000), 15. Details
- Price, Peter [and others], 'Obituary for Rex Falls', BAMOS: bulletin of the Australian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society, 38 (2) (2025), 22-3, https://viewer.joomag.com/bamos-vol-38-q3-august-2025-bamos-vol-38-q3-august-2025/0915288001756183634/p23?auth_sso=1. Details
Resources
- 'Falls, R (1941-)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-636802. Details
See also
- Federation and Meteorology, 2001, http://www.austehc.unimelb.edu.au/fam/index_f.html. Details
Helen Morgan and Helen Cohn
Created: 10 May 2001, Last modified: 23 July 2026
- Foundation Supporter - National Council for the Centenary of Federation