Web ratings for independently owned WeatherWatch.co.nz have significantly jumped above expectations for the first half of 2011 after a combination of severe weather events, better news coverage and a big jump in the number of online updates.

Google Analytics says WeatherWatch.co.nz has had close to 1 million visitors this year with 940,000 up until June 30th.  This is a 182% increase on the same 6 months in 2010.

Pageviews over the first half of 2011 have also jumped to over 2 million (2,140,000) up 170% compared to last year. 

The biggest winner is the Auckland forecast page which rocketed up 373% compared to this time last year.  

Head weather analyst Philip Duncan says the figures are a great result and are part of a team effort.  “We have reporters all around the country who feed us many exclusive stories and of course our loyal readers and viewers who are fantastic at sharing breaking weather news from their part of the country”.

“Richard Green and I have a tonne of energy and feel like things are only just getting started”.

WeatherWatch.co.nz has established a big foot print in New Zealand’s mainstream media along with international news organisations over the years, with this year being the busiest so far.

“We have a fantastic relationship with the team at CNN International and we often share content.  We also have a very close working relationship with The Weather Channel across America” says Mr Duncan.

This year WeatherWatch.co.nz has made international headlines dozens of times during the South Pacific Cyclone Season, the Canterbury earthquakes and most recently the Chilean ash clouds.

In New Zealand many media outlets regularly quote WeatherWatch.co.nz news stories and forecasts, which has taken many years to build up credibility. 

And this year dairy giant Fonterra and Auckland Civil Defence are now also using WeatherWatch.co.nz services on a regular basis to assist with planning.

So what was the biggest ratings day of 2011 so far?  Well, actually it was for an Australian story – Cyclone Yasi.  New Zealanders and Australian’s trusted WeatherWatch.co.nz to bring the latest developments with 25,000 visits to the site in just 24 hours.

A WeatherWatch.co.nz/NZHerald.co.nz video hosted by Philip Duncan about the monster Category 5 cyclone had almost 200,000 views on YouTube, making it the most watched video on YouTube that day in New Zealand and the second most viewed YouTube video in Australia.

But not everything went up in ratings. The free and live Lightning Tracker has had 9% fewer views so far this year due to lack of thunderstorms across the country.

– WeatherWatch.co.nz, Google Analytics