At Home Meteorological Experiments

If you are trying to entertain the kids at home or are just looking for a meteorological experiment then you've come to the right place!

First up we have the Cloud in a Bottle experiment:

Equipment:
• 1 large clear-plastic bottle with a screw-on top (e.g. a 3-litre juice bottle)
• 1 match
• 1 cup of water

Instructions:
Step 1. Pour the water into the bottle, put the top on and shake it around. Leave it for a few hours so that the air in the bottle gets very humid. (You can do the word find below while you wait)

Cyclone Gita - By the numbers

by MetService Meteorologist Claire Flynn and the forecast team

Tropical Cyclone Gita was named by RSMC Nadi at 5pm on Friday the 9th of February 2018. Initially a Cateogory 1 Tropical Cyclone located west of American Samos, TC Gita curved to pass Niue and then moved westwards directly over Nuku’alofa (southern Tonga) as a Category 4 Tropical Cyclone. It reached Category 5 on 14/02/18, with maximum wind gusts of 205 km/h near the centre. It passed south of Fiji, heading towards New Caledonia, before curving southwards and heading into the Tasman Sea.

Tropical Cyclone Gita Update – 17th February 2018

By MetService Meteorologist Claire Flynn

Please note: all times listed below are in New Zealand local time.

As of 1pm today, TC Gita was a Category 3 Tropical Cyclone, with estimated wind speeds of 117 km/hr near the centre, and a central pressure of 970 hPa. It was located over the waters south of New Caledonia at 24.5S, 166.6E, as shown in the latest forecast track map issued by RSMC Nadi in the map below: