On 1 July 2025, NIWA merged with GNS Science to become Earth Sciences New Zealand.

Climate & Weather

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

  • Summer Series 2017 - NIWA's Year of Weather

    Feature story
    Four seasons with a little bit of everything.
    It started with the bummer summer… then came the fires, rain, flooding and a very weird November.
    But it’s all in a year of weather as NIWA wraps up the seasonal highlights.
  • NIWA's Hotspot Watch for 14 December 2017

    Hotspot
    A weekly update describing soil moisture across the country to help assess whether severely to extremely dry conditions are occurring or imminent. Regions experiencing these soil moisture deficits are deemed “hotspots”. Persistent hotspot regions have the potential to develop into drought.
  • NIWA's Hotspot Watch for 7 December 2017

    Hotspot
    A weekly update describing soil moisture across the country to help assess whether severely to extremely dry conditions are occurring or imminent. Regions experiencing these soil moisture deficits are deemed “hotspots”. Persistent hotspot regions have the potential to develop into drought.
  • Warming ocean to alter ecosystems and affect fisheries by end of century, says NIWA scientists

    Feature story
    Rapid warming of the ocean near Tasmania may provide a good indication of how the water around New Zealand will change as the planet warms, say NIWA scientists.
  • ‘Weather detectives’ saving historical records

    Media release
    More than 50 “weather detectives” from 20 countries will be in Auckland next week to share their experiences saving snippets of meteorological history that will ultimately help scientists better understand the processes of climate variability and change.
  • NIWA's Hotspot Watch for 30 November 2017

    Hotspot
    A weekly update describing soil moisture across the country to help assess whether severely to extremely dry conditions are occurring or imminent. Regions experiencing these soil moisture deficits are deemed “hotspots”. Persistent hotspot regions have the potential to develop into drought.
  • NIWA's Hotspot Watch for 23 November 2017

    Hotspot
    A weekly update describing soil moisture across the country to help assess whether severely to extremely dry conditions are occurring or imminent. Regions experiencing these soil moisture deficits are deemed “hotspots”. Persistent hotspot regions have the potential to develop into drought.
  • The Stormy Seas project

    Research Project
    Does climate change affect the position of the Subtropical Front around New Zealand? This has important consequences for New Zealand's climate and biological productivity.
  • NIWA's Hotspot Watch for 16 November 2017

    Hotspot
    A weekly update describing soil moisture across the country to help assess whether severely to extremely dry conditions are occurring or imminent. Regions experiencing these soil moisture deficits are deemed “hotspots”. Persistent hotspot regions have the potential to develop into drought.
  • NIWA's Hotspot Watch for 9 November 2017

    Hotspot
    A weekly update describing soil moisture across the country to help assess whether severely to extremely dry conditions are occurring or imminent. Regions experiencing these soil moisture deficits are deemed “hotspots”. Persistent hotspot regions have the potential to develop into drought.
  • Winters much shorter than they once were, says NIWA

    Media release
    New Zealand winters are a month shorter than they were 80 years ago, NIWA scientists say.“This is a consequence of rising temperatures around the globe, and such trends in colder temperatures and frosts will influence the life cycle of plants and animals” - Dr Brett Mullan.
  • NIWA's Hotspot Watch for 2 November 2017

    Hotspot
    A weekly update describing soil moisture across the country to help assess whether severely to extremely dry conditions are occurring or imminent. Regions experiencing these soil moisture deficits are deemed “hotspots”. Persistent hotspot regions have the potential to develop into drought.