Weather Forecast for Rotorua

Hi there

What centre are you talking about?

WW

It won't be heavy but it won't be drizzle, somewhere in between. Winds will be a bit blustery from the north.

Have a good one :)

WW

Hi there, good question! This is because the transition into ex-tropical takes some time (a day or so) and with the much warmer than usual sea conditions there is uncertainty about when precisely this happens. Either way, it's only a technicality and will have the same strength/power equal to Cat 1 or 2. The reason why it is fluctuating between 1 and 2 is because for the past day or two the storm has been just a few km/h into the Category 2 range...meaning it only needs to weaken by several km/h (sustained winds around the centre) and it becomes a high end Category 1 and the best computer modelling is contantly crunching the data. As far as the public is concerned it will likely have Cat 1 strength when it comes in - regardless of if it's tropical or extra-tropical.

Cheers

WW

Hi Fleur,
We can't really answer about specific flights as it depends on a number of things - weather at the time, current warnings by MetService and how the pilot and airline feel at the time of departure re: the weather. Airlines are saying to expect delays and possible cancellations on Tuesday. You may be ok at that time - the worst comes in during the evening, but we can't really say for sure sorry. Keep an eye on airline and airport websites tomorrow. All the best!
- WW

Hi there

There may be differences due to the time that story was realeased and the newer data you are looking at now. I think you get the general idea though that conditions are going to be quite windy for Taranaki either way you look at it so batton down the hatches for Tuesday, especially afternoon / evening then winds will ease overnight.

Cheers
Aaron

We'll have more details on Monday - we're still trying to fine tune Christchurch and Canterbury (along with many other regions).

Cheers

WW

Hi there, Cyclone Gita looks to brush Auckland on Tuesday with some gusty winds. Rain is less of an issue based on most forecast models. The winds could be gusty in some Auckland wind tunnels. Likely direction is N or NNE, then N to NW later on Tuesday. Sustained winds at this early stage could reach 45km/h with gusts into gale force and maybe up to 90km/h. If the low jogs a little further away winds won't be bad, if it jogs a little closer it could get windier. 

You can see here how the damaging winds in purple are wrapped around the centre of Gita. Damaging winds are in purple.

This is the wind GUST map for Tuesday at 6pm across NZ. For Auckland it shows gusts may get into the gale force region (62km/h plus) for a time.

Hi there - the forecasts we have for your specific place (down to a 500 metre grid) are accurate - especially the % of rain, wind directions and temps. The current conditions come from a separate network of private sensors - most are accurate but around 10% are not. These personal weather stations aren't part of the forecasting we use. We have a deal with YR to share their data too but currently we don't, instead we are using the Weather Company - which is owned by IBM. We are now an official IBM business partner using the world's most powerful weather super computer, the IBM Watson computer which is updating your local forecasts every 15 minutes. YR is based in Norway. IBM is here in New Zealand.

We have this forecast here for Te Awaiti, is this close to you? If you're using our free app then the "find my location" setting will automatically find a forecast for where you are standing or sitting (providing you have internet or phone connection).

Cheers and thanks for your feedback
WW

In this instance usually the forecast high is more accurate as that's adjusted by us personally.

Cheers
Aaron

Hi there

It looks to be mainly dry but there is the risk of a few isolated showers late afternoon / evening. So there is a chance it could be dry, a chance there could be a few showers move through around that time, sorry I can't be more specific but it's the type of weather moving through that is quite unpredictable, not stormy just unpredictable.

Hope the party goes well!

WW

Hi there, our Westport forecast is updated every 15 minutes. At this stage one model picks Gita will make landfall there, the majority still place it in Cook Strait or further north. It's unclear how the weather will exactly pan out in Westport at this stage - the mountains and ranges will play a big role in the severe weather on top of the cyclone. Until we can lock in where landfall will be it's hard to be any more specific and at this stage all western areas are at some risk.

Kind regards
WW

Hi there, it's too early for us to know but the current pattern sees no big changes. NZ has a mix of highs and humid downpours around for the rest of this month which may spill over into March.

Cheers
WW

Hi there, MetOcean is aware of the fault with the maps feed, it appears to be out of their hands too and looks like a fault with Google Mapping as it's playing up on their websites too. They are working on a fix. If you zoom in or out it may make some maps appear.
Cheers
WW

Hi there

We'll publish stories in the next coming days with all these questions and others hopefully answered in there. Watch out for Phil's video today on this topic :)

Cheers
Aaron

Hey there, thanks very much for the positive feedback! Thanks for taking the time to write in :)

Cheers
WW team

The forecast on our site says "Sunny areas and increasing high cloud", go check out the forecasts for Auckland by clicking on Auckland. That currently still stands, you can also use these maps here to see how Auckland is shaping up for Saturday - http://www.weatherwatch.co.nz/forecast-maps/rain

It shows some rain to the north but currently Auckland is dry, rain moves in overnight / on Sunday etc.

Cheers
Aaron

Hi there, the rain that affected Auckland on Sunday will tonight drift back into Auckland - but just like we saw on Sunday it's a mix of drizzle and heavy downpours. Some areas, especially in the west around the ranges could see totals of 50 to 80mm, but there may be many other suburbs that have half that amount. It's a tricky set up. We're working to add rainfall totals to our website at the moment which will be for your specific location, not a general city forecast.

Cheers
WW

Hi there, which location are you specifically using? If your app is selected to 'find my location' then it will be creating a forecast for your precise location which may be slightly different to the website that is finding a forecast for the location you searched for. The data on the app comes from our website so anything you search for should be indentical - but the 'find my location' means it's even more specific to where you are. Let us know if that helps - otherwise we'll look into it incase we have a bug in the system! 
Cheers
WW

Not a huge difference but 'partly cloudy' is likely to be just a tad cloudier than a 'mostly sunny' day. For our WeatherWatch made forecasts "mostly sunny' would mean the sky is generally clear but not perfectly clear. We don't tend to write "partly cloudy" in our WeatherWatch.co.nz forecasts, instead we usually say "a mix of sun and cloud" when it's a bit 50/50.
Cheers

WW

Hi there, in our part of the world it's a little confusing as we have three cyclone authorities (instead of just one for all of North and Central America for example). If you draw a line north and south halfway down the Tasman Sea storms that form west of it (160E) are named by Australian authorities and east of it named by Fiji. Unsure about if you can submit names sorry, but you can read all about it here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tropical_cyclone_naming 

Cheers
WW

Good morning :) The high is still coming in and while it's quite large it's also quite weak - rain clouds draped narrowly over the North Island affecting some people and nothing to really push it away. The South Island will benefit most from this high, in fact sunny weather with daytime temps up to 30 degrees possible for some areas this week. But the tropical air feeding in is definitely the culprit for the rain in the north. As for the cyclone, it's actually tracking north of this higher pressure over NZ and lying out to our east. Should be another high (a bigger one) next week after the remnants of Gita have moved through (probably one week from now). Not sure about records yet, still more than half the month to get through. 
Kind regards
WW

Map for Wednesday shows the high pressure belt over NZ and to our north east - cyclone well to the north (tracking westwards) north of the high.

Hi there, the Weather Company relies on data that uses many more sources than just the weather maps (which is one source from the US Government). Rather than focus on the weather icons, focus on the % (percentage) of rain in their long range forecasts - there's no forecaster on earth that has high accuracy for long range and next weekend Cyclone Gita is likely to be near the NZ area which is why there is even more uncertainty. Their forecasts are in fact moderated and worked on by meteorologists who are specifically working now to make them even more accurate for us - and we have plans to improve the icons (which are too clunky and don't often reflect the forecast so well - that's a work in progress by our small team to improve that). So once again, focus on the % of rain for long range forecasts as that's the most reliable indicator for rain or dry. Their data has been independently tested and is proven to be more accurate than the NZ Government forecasts you pay for via tax funding - we are providing a free service. Feel free to shop around. 

Cheers

WW

We've put your order in :)

Happy birthday to Ketia from us :)

- WW