Editorial: Public needs storm advice

Waking up to scenes of snow yesterday was  a surreal experience, and something many people living in Wanganui would have struggled to recall having experienced before.

For a region known for its moderate climate - there are those who are particularly fond of trotting out a line that Wanganui has the second-most temperate climate in the world - yesterday's snowfall and the expected continuation of cold over the next few days is out of the

ordinary. Putting aside how you measure climate to provide such rankings, this is an area that is fortunate to have relatively settled weather.

In summer, generally, the sun shines and in winter you expect a few cold days but it is rare to have prolonged bouts of weather extremes.

But when extreme wind, rain and even snow are likely, that is when we rely on the accuracy of our forecasters.

Often maligned for perceived inaccuracy, we still rely on these experts to survey the prevailing conditions, analyse the measurements and offer their calculated view on what is expected.

Mostly they get it right, or close to it, although it has been suggested that some organisations have become prone to exaggeration or overstatement in the interest of gaining media exposure.

If that is true, and we mustn't forget that the various organisations are competitors, it is hard to see how that aids anyone's understanding.

The veracity of information made public is paramount.

It is critical to ensuring early warning systems are effective and they can only be if people have faith in the information they are given.

Strange then that our local authorities seemed reluctant to advise of any impending adverse conditions.

No advice to farmers to get stock into sheltered areas, no warning to motorists to beware treacherous conditions.

Or certainly none that came across the Chronicle desk.

Where is their responsibility for the welfare and wellbeing of the local community? Or perhaps they had other means than the main local news outlet of getting the point across.

It was only last September when significant damage and stock losses were incurred in the wider region as a result of record rainfall.

But that was prolonged rain with wind, which came in the midst of lambing.

This time we have been fortunate but that is more down to luck than anything because the conditions have been largely benign.

It is hard to imagine anyone advocating repeated warnings when any minor storm blows through - we all know the story of the boy who cried wolf.

But, as we marvel at the beauty of the whitened landscape, we know too that nature is unrelenting in its fury.

Today's technology enables much in the way of advance warnings for weather events, it seems obvious that we take every opportunity to be prepared.

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