Climate & Weather

Understanding our variable and changing climate is critical for managing resources and reducing risks.

  • Mā te haumaru ō ngā puna wai ō Rākaihautū ka ora mō ake tonu: Increasing flood resilience

    Research Project
    This five-year NIWA-led research programme is developing a system to map flood hazard consistently across the whole country. It will reveal how our flood risk might change over the next 100 years because of changes to rainfall and sea level from climate change, as well as due to land-use changes. Find out more.
  • Forecasting weather systems

    Research Project
    NIWA’s research into forecasting weather systems aims to increase the resilience of New Zealand communities to weather-related hazards.
  • NIWA Weather: public weather forecasting

    NIWA Weather is NIWA's public facing weather forecasting website.
  • Climate Change Adaptation Toolbox

    Service
    This Toolbox helps you find out about the changing climate, what it might mean for your business, organisation or community and what you can do about it.
  • Climate Present and Past

    Research Project
    Climate Present and Past is a core-funded project under NIWA's National Climate Centre. It aims to explore historical climate data and track past changes in climate through a range of approaches.
  • Providing climate change advice for New Zealand

    Service
    Regional-scale climate projections assist local authorities to assess risks presented by climate change now and prepare their communities for the future impacts.
  • Gannet colony

    Seasonal Climate Outlook

    Publication series
    Air temperature, rainfall, soil moisture and river flow predictions for the coming season.
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    'Seven-station' series temperature data

    Research Project
    NIWA's long-running 'seven-station' series shows NZ's average annual temperature has increased by about 1 °C over the past 100 years.
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    Overview of New Zealand's climate

    Find information about New Zealand's temperature record and climate change in our information and resources section.
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    Climate extremes

    Hottest, coldest, wettest, driest, sunniest, windiest...which places hold the record for climate extremes in NZ?
  • Clouds-landscape

    Government announcement about NIWA and MetService

    News article
    NIWA is pleased with the announcement today by the Science, Innovation and Technology Minister of the Government’s response to a recent review of New Zealand’s weather forecasting system.
  • Cyclone Gabrielle - Hawke's Bay

    Cyclone Gabrielle was intensified by human-induced global warming

    Media release
    A new NIWA-led study has found that climate change increased the amount of total rainfall during Cyclone Gabrielle by 10%.