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 Perched on slab of rock in the middle of nowhere is a little cottage called "Somewhere". Nowhere, in this case, happens to be 16km from Barrydale on the R62 towards Ladismith. Thanks to the wonders of technology Len Slater is able to work in this remote part of the world, supplying detailed, site-specific, professional, micro-scale weather forecasts to anyone working outdoors, but specifically to the advertising, entertainment, events, film, hospitality and recreational industries, anywhere in the world.
Len started his career as a weatherman with the SAWS in 1966. Within a year he was on Marion Island growing his first beard. Returning from the cold in 1968, he worked at many major centres around the country before and after obtaining a Meteorological Diploma from Pretoria Technicon in 1970. After another visit to Marion Island as leader of the SAWS expeditionary team, he settled in Cape Town where he started his SAWS in service practical forecasting training in 1976....
CONTINUED HERE Len retired from the SAWS in March 1996, after 30 years of service - 15 of which were spent in forecasting. Since then he and a small team of professional associates have been providing an excellent quality forecasting service to the booming film industry in Cape Town - first as Cape Weatherwise International and then independently, since early 2007, as DumaZulu: Thundering Sky Weather.
Len is a passionate man with a single-minded goal: to combine human experience with the latest technology to provide personalized, specific and accurate forecasting to the corporate sector - in contrast with the general, computerised service provided by most web based weather forecasting concerns.
Len's intense interest in the weather, coupled with a researcher's quest for knowledge and scientific accuracy, as well as total dedication to his clients, has resulted in requests for his services from many places ... confirming his self-appointed, but jocular title of "Leonardo da Masta Forecasta".
DumaZulu is located in the Western Cape, at the tip of the African continent. Though DumaZulu provides forecasts for any spot on the globe, Len is proud of his specialist experience and understanding of the Western Cape - particularly of the "four seasons in one day" that often exists between sunny Cape Town and cloudy, blustery Cape Point during September to April. Len occasionally throws in informative or entertaining comments about salient weather events or dates, such as the equinoxes and solstices. |