Climate & Weather

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

Drought forecasting dashboard

NIWA and MPI are working together to develop a new drought forecasting tool. It uses innovative climate modelling, the latest in machine learning and other data-driven techniques to predict rainfall 35 days ahead. It will help farmers and growers better prepare for periods of dryness and drought.

Climate and weather

Research

Explore

Services

Explore

Education

Explore

  • Link to source page

    South Pacific Rainfall Atlas

    The South Pacific Rainfall Atlas (SPRAT) is a project that was supported by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to use the NIWA rainfall database and generate rainfall anomaly maps at the station and island group level for the Pacific Islands.

  • Link to source page

    Interdecadal Pacific Oscillation

    The Interdecadal Pacific Oscillation, or IPO, is a large-scale, long period oscillation that influences climate variability over the Pacific Basin.

  • Link to source page

    Madden-Julian Oscillation

    The Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO) is the largest element of the intraseasonal (30-90 day) variability in the tropical atmosphere.

  • Link to source page

    Tropical Cyclones

    Tropical cyclones are tropical storms that are characterised by a low pressure centre, strong winds, and thunderstorms that produce heavy rain.

  • Link to source page

    South Pacific Convergence Zone

    The South Pacific Convergence Zone is a band of convergence that splits from the Intertropical Convergence Zone and Western Pacific Warm Pool at the maritime continent and extends southeast as far as the Cook Islands.

  • Link to source page

    El Niño-Southern Oscillation

    The El Niño-Southern Oscillation (or ENSO) refers to the effects of a band of sea surface temperatures which are anomalously warm or cold in a quasi-annual cycle that develops off the Pacific coast of South America and impacts climate and weather across the tropics and subtropics.

  • Link to source page

    NIWA's Hotspot Watch

    Hotspot
    15 January 2016
    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.

  • Link to source page

    Products and services

    A major part of Climate Present and Past is the maintenance of certain data series and providing services.

  • Link to source page

    Knowledge transfer and reports

    Climate Present and Past provides knowledge transfer and reports for external use.

  • Link to source page

    Conference presentations

    Conference presentations by people associated with Climate Present and Past, organised by financial year.

  • Link to source page

    Peer-reviewed publications

    A list of peer-reviewed publications under Climate Present and Past, organised by financial year.

  • Link to source page

    Overview and objectives

    Overview and objectives of the Climate Present and Past project.