Hydrology and flow

NIWA is developing a national river flow forecasting tool for New Zealand that aims to support and strengthen our planning for and response to extreme rainfall events.

Developing a snowmelt forecast system to enable more accurate and confident forecasts of river flow and alpine hazards.

Our highest elevation site at 2128 m, Mt Potts is also one our sites very exposed to wind.

The Upper Rakaia SIN site is located at 1752 m on a north facing slope in the Jollie Range. Records start in 2010.

The Albert Burn SIN site is located at 1280 m in the upper Albert Burn valley, east of Mt Aspiring/Tititea. Records start in 2012.

The Ivory Glacier SIN site is located at 1390 m next to Ivory Lake, west of the main divide of the Southern Alps/ Kā Tiritiri Te Moana.

NIWA is developing a national river flow forecasting tool for New Zealand that aims to support and strengthen our planning for and response to extreme rainfall events.

Flood flows on the Buller River this month were the largest of any river in Aotearoa New Zealand in almost 100 years, NIWA measurements show.

The Murchison mountains SIN station is located at 1140 m elevation in Fiordland National Park. Because of the low elevation, snow often comes and goes throughout the winter season. Snow records start in 2012.

Castle Mount electronic weather station is at 2000 m elevation on an exposed site above the Milford Track. Records here begin in 2012. Strong winds limit snow accumulation during the winter.

The Mount Larkins electronic weather station is located east of the main divide near Glenorchy and Lake Wakatipu at 1900m elevation.

Mueller Hut electronic weather station is at 1818m elevation and located in Mount Cook/Aoraki National Park. This site also measures solic precipitation and solar radiation. This is the deepest (~3m) of all the snow and ice network sites and records at this site start from 2010.