In recent years the islands of Vanuatu have been showing signs of increased volcanic activity. The New Zealand Metservice plays an important role in the monitoring of these volcanoes, as they are the Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre (VAAC Wellington) for the region, one of only 9 centres around the world as shown in the map below.

When we head towards the Winter season, the days get shorter and we can expect temperatures to start to fall. Often in New Zealand, Autumn is a very transitional season, swinging from warm tropical air from the north to cold southerly air from the South Pole.

Each year meteorologists around the world celebrate a chosen theme to commemorate the anniversary of the founding of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) on the 23rd of March in 1950. “Understanding Clouds” was the theme of World Meteorological Day that year, to highlight the enormous importance of clouds for weather climate and water.

How often have you gone to sleep on a calm night under clear skies, only to wake up and find the whole valley is full of fog?  This makes for great photos if you live above the cloud, as shown below from January 28th 2017 in Crofton Downs, Wellington, but it’s not so nice for the people living beneath the cloud.  Often the top of the fog is a smooth, flat surface, and is due to an ‘inversion’.  In this blog post we unravel what an inversion is, and why it leads to valley fog like this.Valley fog u

WEATHER BALLOON LAUNCH PROJECT - MetService, Space Place & Curious Minds NZ

By Lisa Murray, Communications Meteorologist.

Niko and Lucy launch the weather balloon at Paraparaumu workshop Friday 28th Oct 2016.

Sitting out in the middle of the ocean, New Zealand is vulnerable to weather extremes from all directions, from the remains of tropical systems barreling in from the north, to cold winter southerlies bringing a blanket of snow.

Celebrating the increased participation of women in meteorology

March 2016
 

International Women’s Day is held every year in March and to mark this occasion we want to give a big shout out to all the great women working here at MetService. Since 2001 we have trained 34 women and 30 men to be World Meteorology Organisation (WMO) qualified meteorologists. Twenty years ago the statistics were very different.

From “The New Zealand Weather Book” by MetService Expert Meteorologist Erick Brenstrum

Blog published by Lisa Murray Communications Meteorologist

Satellite image of Tropical Cyclone Bola, before moving south towards New Zealand and evolving into a mid-latitude Low. Image from NOAA-9

The annual average fogs for Wellington Airport is 6 fogs per year, much rarer than at Christchurch (50 days per year) or Dunedin Airport (64 days per year) or Hamilton (92 days per year), yet it is very disruptive when it does roll in off the sea and can last for hours at a time.  Interestingly, Wellington gets more fog days in summer while fogs occur in winter for many other airports. Wellington airport is a hub for domestic commercial air traffic, therefore even short closures have major flow on effects for passengers and other airports around the country.

Feels like temperature, to the nearest degree, gives an idea of how cool or warm the air feels to us.