Having reviewed Observations in my area for a few weeks now I am either in the middle of a lot of turbulence or some people do not know how to accurately report their observed wind directions. Do you have any process on how you choose which are authentic or just average out for your reporting? Is it worth your contacting all the observers on your contributing database and explaining that the wind direction stated is the direction it is coming from – not going to. i.e. A southerly wind is a wind that originates from the south and blows towards the north. In other words, it’s a wind coming from the south.

Can you explain why the rain radar maps that the Met Service provide have such a bizarre colour scheme? It makes them very hard to read, and as a geographer it breaks my heart to see a system that has no logical progression from low to high in it. Other countries seem to use much more intuitive spectral scales.

Hi Phil, when the forecast for a particular location says x amount of rain today, and then x amount of rain tonight – between which hours is today, and between which is tonight? Hope that makes sense.

Hi;

Is there sometimes a discrepancy between your cumulative rainfall map and what is forecast at a particular location?

By that I mean, I can look at the cumulative rainfall map and get a good indication of how much rainfall will be at a particular location. Then when I directly search for the detailed forecast for that location the cumulative rainfall for the same time period doesn’t match what the map says.

Sometimes the appears to be significant differences.

Cheers,

19/6/25 4.30pm Takapau temp 8.5c on outside gauge not 12c as you state.

This morning -3.9c