Hazards

HIRDS is a simple online tool that can estimate the magnitude and frequency of high intensity rainfall at any point in New Zealand.

NIWA-led research

The Hunga-Tonga Hunga-Ha'apai (HT-HH) volcano was like a massive shotgun blast from the deep, generating the biggest atmospheric explosion recorded on Earth in more than 100 years.

Decisions about how we adapt to sea-level rise need to be based on information about our exposure to coastal flooding.

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.

Storm-tide red alerts are the highest high tide (also known as king tides) dates that Emergency Managers and Coastal Hazard Managers should write in their diaries and keep an eye on adverse weather (low barometric pressure, onshore winds), river levels and sea conditions (waves and swell). This page shows the 2023 dates of the highest high-tide "red alert" dates, and the lowest high-tide dates.

The My Coastal Futures game was developed to help people understand climate change impacts and start thinking about how they might adapt.

NIWA and the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) are working together to develop a new drought forecasting tool.

RiskScape is a software application for analysing natural hazard consequences.

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.

NIWA’s research into forecasting weather systems aims to increase the resilience of New Zealand communities to weather-related hazards.

NIWA is leading a New Zealand partnership to map the South and West Pacific Ocean's seabed as part of a worldwide initiative to map the entire globe’s seafloor.