Currie explains while there are memorandums of understanding and there has been some co-operation in the past, the two entities remain fiercely competitive.
“In a major severe weather event, as we saw earlier this year with Cyclone Gabrielle, Niwa was equally prolific and possibly even more prominent in some places with their weather forecasting, telling the population what to expect in the coming days. And that really does compete against MetService’s reason for being.”
MetService was initially established to provide daily weather reports, while Niwa was to be responsible for longer-term, in-depth research into climate change. However, over time, these two remits have melded together – particularly in cases where extreme weather has direct links to climate change.
Given the fierce competition between these two organisations, critics are starting to question why we need two publicly owned forecasters in the first place.
“The severe weather events this year really brought home to the Government that [those critics] do have a point. There were examples during Cyclone Gabrielle where there were different forecasts coming out of the different public companies.”
On top of this, you also have numerous private weather providers also offering their own updates and interpretations of what is happening with the weather – making it difficult for New Zealanders to know who to trust.
So, who should we be relying on for weather reports? Should the media change its approach to reporting on weather events? And is it time for the Government to merge these entities together?
Listen to the full episode of The Front Page podcast for a full rundown of the battle to deliver the weather.
The Front Page is a daily news podcast from the NZ Herald, available to listen to every weekday from 5am.
You can follow the podcast at iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
