TOP STORY: Mayor to push for weather station

By Sandra Conchie
Tauranga is likely to become a hotter place to live with a new official temperature gauge being discussed for downtown.
After years of losing out in the comparison with other cities on daily weather reports on TV, Tauranga City Council is thinking of shifting its official readings from the airport to a hotter city area.
The option has already been taken up by Napier, Hastings, New Plymouth, Gisborne, Bay of Islands, Kapiti, Oamaru and Kaikoura to improve their readings, after suggestions that their national image was being "ruined" by inaccurate temperature figures.
Tauranga Mayor Stuart Crosby said he was keen to talk to the MetService because many people got upset over a perceived disparity between the airport figures and city temperatures.
"There is no doubt accurate weather figures are a hot issue for many people - especially those involved in agriculture.
"And it is also vital that this council gets accurate weather information in regards to our own forecasting, including management of our water treatment plants.
"I will need to discuss the issue with the MetService and other weather experts first. But, if it pans out that there are huge discrepancies in the information being provided to this council, of course we will need to revisit our process of gathering data and investigate ways to rectify the situation."
He said that at this stage there was no compelling evidence to suggest that there was any priority reason to do so.
For years, there has been growing pressure for Tauranga's official temperature recordings taken at Tauranga airport and used on television, radio and in newspapers, to be measured at sheltered urban sites instead. Most unofficial backyard thermometer readers come up with much higher figures.
Other cities which made the move either paid for the gauges out of council resources or in some cases in partnership with the business community or service clubs, thereby providing an inner city and airport reading.
For less than $10,000, Tauranga could commission the MetService to install another temperature gauge.
Recently, Wanganui Mayor Michael Laws added his city's name to that list.
Mr Laws said Wanganui's national profile was being "undermined" by temperature readings on television.
For some councils and locals it is a simply a question of provincial pride, for others it's about economics, the ability to attract tourists and their money.
The MetService collects weather reports from a network of more than 100 stations around the country for forecasting and inclusion in the national climate database.
Tony Quayle, MetService's data service manager, acknowledged that although temperatures taken at airports were ideal for meteorology, they were not always representative of those taken in nearby built-up inner-city centres.
"However, people do need to remember that the weather temperature reported on television is the air temperature, that's quite different from sun temperature, which can easily add 3-5C to the official temperature if it is taken in direct sunlight."
Mr Quayle said the MetService took readings at airports so the air density could be determined - an important factor in determining the correct take-off weight for aircraft.
The World Meteorological Organisation Standards requires air temperature readings to be taken at wide open spaces in the absence of sunlight, with gauges installed in a grass area free of radiation such as a park, some distance clear of built-up areas.
Mr Quayle said while some people argue there were huge discrepancies at the airport it could also swing both ways.
"It's definitely not a new issue but one that is certainly contentious. But it is fair to say humans make hopeless thermometers. If the temperature is 22C and they are out in the sun it will feel much higher to them."
Mr Quayle said the MetService was happy to discuss the issue of extra weather stations on a case-by-case basis, as there were recent instances where a supplementary one had been installed closer to or in the inner city.
Last year, Tauranga's weather earned it honours for both sunshine and rain. MetService figures showed it enjoyed 233 more sunshine hours than Auckland to top North Island figures but it was also the wettest city in the country.
On an average year, Tauranga gets 2258 hours of sun, compared with Nelson's 2411 hours and Blenheim's 2435. Although Tauranga basked in almost 10 per cent more sun than usual last year, it also had nearly 40 per cent, or 1683mm, more rain.
Tourism Bay of Plenty general manager Tim Burgess said Tauranga did not have a marketing problem with its weather.