Atmospheric analysis

The weather of the Chatham Islands is marked by rapid changes of conditions, and typically windy cloudy conditions.

Nelson City and Tasman District are located in the most north-westerly part of the South Island and generally are the first to be influenced by weather systems moving onto the island from the north.

The climate and weather of the Wellington region is characterised by strong variations in space and time, strongly influenced by the presence of Cook Straight and the rugged local topography.

The climate of Taranaki is determined largely by its position in relation to the large scale weather patterns affecting New Zealand.

The climate of Hawke’s Bay is influenced largely by the orography and the airstreams crossing New Zealand.

Auckland experiences a subtropical climate. The region lies some 13° of latitude south of the Tropic of Capricorn, so tropical plants which are protected for the winter months will flower and fruit in the summer.

This week's Critter of the Week (number 142) introduces the delicate cup coral Caryophyllia.

Human influence on the climate system is clear and growing, with impacts observed on all continents.

NIWA scientists have found a new active fault in Wellington Harbour after analysing data from a recent marine survey.

NIWA marine ecologists, including specialist divers, are heading south shortly for the second stage in a range of experiments that take place under the ice in Antarctica.

Brachiopods might look like a mollusc, but they are actually more closely related to bryozoans (lace corals).

Footage of southern right whales, filmed near Campbell Island, one of New Zealand's sub-Antarctic islands.