Brückner-Egeson-Lockyer cycle

Originally described by Charles Egeson on the basis of periodic flooding events in southern Australia that correlated with sunspot activity.

Charles Egeson (who possibly also went by the name of John Joseph George) first suggested 33 year cycles in Australian weather in 1889.

The forecast of a drought caused considerable public alarm and led to his dismissal from the Sydney Observatory in 1890.

[1] Brückner described 35 year cycles of cool-damp and warm-dry weather periods, an observation that had also been made by Sir Francis Bacon.

[2] Other datasets that have been suggested as following the BEL cycle including geomagnetism, military events, economics, and heart rates.

Graph of Sydney rainfall from Egeson (1889)
A cartoon from The Bulletin (29 March 1890) showing Charles Egeson (faceless) and Henry Chamberlain Russell with the title "Weather Prophets" and caption "It was said in ancient times that two soothsayers could not meet without laughing outright. Here is depicted a meeting of the Prophet Egeson and Astronomer Russell."