On the night of 16 December 1908 a new signal, also on the GPO clock tower, made its debut. For warnings at night a red light had been installed in the lantern - the glass enclosed room below the flagstaff. It continued until 1940. Capsizes still occurred, but fishing boats did heed the warnings. In 1931, with the addition of signals for southerly busters, the practice of displaying the Bureau of Meteorology weather forecast with flags was extended, with the cooperation of the Royal Australian Navy, to the signal staff on Garden Island. The weather flags had been flown since 1912 from the flagstaffs on prominent buildings but as well, at Garden Island, a diamond shape would be hoisted for warnings during the day and a red light at night when a southerly buster was expected. In 1932 Navy League sea cadets flew the same signals as at Garden Island at their station on Snapper Island (New South Wales). The Weather beacon on the top of MLC Building, North Sydney, built in 1957, could also warn of 'southerly busters'. Generally, the forecasts displayed by the lights were updated three times a day but could be changed at anytime if a sudden change was imminent. If a 'buster' was expected the red lights at the bottom of the beacon would flash at half second intervals. This signal, indicating strong winds and rain, was not specific to 'southerly busters', but as the jingle advised: Flashes short, prepare for gales, Gather the washing, furl the sails." Author Ruth Park makes a reference to the southerly buster in her novel Poor Man's Orange (1949): After an unbearably hot day, the old men on the balconies were sniffing the air and saying, 'Here she comes!' The Southerly Buster, the genie of Sydney, flapped its coarse wing over the city ... The women undid the fronts of their frocks and the little children lifted up their shirts and let it blow on their sweaty bottoms. Formation On a hot day, a strong offsea gale develops from the south usually in the late afternoon and early evening, causing a rapid fall in temperature as it arrives, and sometimes a short rain and/or thunderstorm may accompany, especially if it is affiliated with a cold front coming from the south and a trough, with the strongest winds being at the leading edge of the buster. The southerly buster, which