NZ Weather Forum

Well I am getting a little annoyed now after browsing BOM website and comparing it to our own Metservice website focusing on radar in particular.

The BOM give out FREE of Charge:
6 minute radar updates
Rainfall amounts indicated by radar
Windspeed (going towards or away from the radar) (depending on radar type)
Zoom up to 64 km radius of the radar
and other things that i might not even see.
have a look at this: (has T-storms in atm, 26th Oct, 6 PM, 2009 http://www.bom.gov.au/products/IDR664.loop.shtml#skip

M/S give out Free of charge:
1 hourly radar updates
NO rainfall indicated by radar
NO Windspeed (radar)
Very limited zoomup on the location you are looking at.

I know NZ has a different financial position to Australia, but it seems rather stupid that we have to wait 1 whole hour for a radar update.
And if you are in the position that you need to have 6min radar updates you have fork out a large sum of money to even get access the images, and that may not even be hi res.

M/S can you please free up on your reigns on the radar images please!

Many people have talked me (normal people, that look at radar) and they dont like the fact they have to wait 1 whole hour for a radar update to see if any rain is coming that will affect there outside activity.

Anyway thats my winge ova and done with.

Dont browse what is avaliable in America then! There service makes the metservice look 3rd world if you dont want to cough up to pay for it.

I don't mind the radar info the way it is. If you get too many readings, it can look cluttered?, well that's only according to me.
I'd prefer more radars around the place, espcially to record rainfall in hilly areas, but then of course they are expensive items. If I was an eccentric billionaire, I could pay for a few sites
JohnGaul
NZThS

This radar issue seems to pop up occasionally. The Met Service was privatised before the days of internet. I use the term privatised in so far as the Met Service need to operate like a private sector business due to goverment policy. In USA and Australia, the Meteorological services are fully funded by the public and so a lot of stuff is made available.

Well the weather channel on sky updates the rain radars every 15 mins, so it would only seem fair for the website to be as good.

so it would only seem fair for the website to be as good.

not really
as having that is a coo for sky, to entice customers

i.e we live in a user pays world now
maybe sky pay M/S to have this service

Its like the herald ie it has micky mouse weather with pretty suns and clouds on the net but the printed edition has a far better weather page.

NZstorm wrote:The Met Service was privatised before the days of internet... need to operate like a private sector business due to goverment policy.

this is the reason, it wont change any time soon unless the government starts publically funding it far more than it does currently.

latest Mahia rain radar shows nicely the low center re forming in the hawks bay

it wont change any time soon unless the government starts publically funding it far more than it does currently.

Bill English is talking about government deficits for the next 10 years.