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About the site - weather.noble.gen.nz

W⁴ » world.wide.web.weather was created and is maintained as a useful resource for anyone seeking weather observations, forecasts, news or related information - and is specifically targetted for kiwis featuring a wealth of New Zealand content.

Including a large number of local New Zealand links, this site also features many links to overseas sites and organisations along with a somewhat expanded list of useful links for weather info for our neighbours across the ditch.

Importantly, if you know of a useful site that isn't listed, or want to update a link, please get in touch via the contact form.

About the author - Chris Noble

In short, I am a qualified meteorologist, trained and employed by MetService in New Zealand.

After completing a Master of Science in Physics at the University of Canterbury in 1998, with a thesis titled "Forecasting Vortex Filaments", I pursued my atmospheric science interest further and joined MetService as a trainee meteorologist.

Following a one year in-house training course, including a part-time component at Victoria University in Wellington, I started operational forecasting at the end of 1998, and in early 2000 achieved "Meteorologist, WMO Class I" status.


In case you're curious just what a WMO Class I Meteorogogist is, the following is from publication WMO-No.258, via The Education and Training Programme section of the WMO website,

"Class I - University trained personnel with adequate education in mathematics and Class I physics, and who have successfully completed a course in meteorology to the standard specified by the syllabi. The period of instruction includes at least 4 years of university education (in prerequisite subjects and meteorology), supplemented by at least six months of on-the-job training. Main duties: operational day-to-day work, such as weather forecasting; consulting, directing and decision-making; also, responsibility for research and development, management.

These personnel must have a thorough grounding in dynamic, synoptic and physical meteorology. They should also have a basic knowledge of climatology, hydrology, oceanography and ocean-atmosphere interaction, meteorological instruments and methods of observation, meteorological data processing, satellite meteorology, and air pollution meteorology."

During my time at MetService I have worked as a specialised 'public', 'aviation' and 'marine' forecaster, also as a 'lead forecaster' and am now a 'severe weather forecaster'.

If you're specifically interested in potential or current severe weather in New Zealand, visit the weather warnings page at metservice.com. For information about MetService, including history and employment opportunities, click though to the about metservice section.

Elsewhere on the 'net...

• MetService Blog - launched in May 2009, I'll be contributing posts on occasion to the MetService Blog.

• Personal Blog - from time to time I blog weather snippets, pictures and photos on my wordpress blog under the weather category there.

• Gallery - part of my Picasa photo gallery hosted by Google features a weather album with a handful of weather photos.

Disclaimer

This is a personal website and is maintained and funded by Chris Noble. It is not endorsed or supported by MetService or any other weather and/or forecasting organisation. Comments made here, and on my blog, are my personal views and are not those of MetService and should not be seen as official in any way.

Use of this site is at your own risk. Chris Noble does not guarantee the accuracy, reliability or completeness of any information provided on this site, my blog, or in any of the many sites that are linked to here. Never rely on weather information contained on a non-official or third party site, especially when lives or financial decsions may be impacted by weather events.

For current official weather warnings and forecasts for New Zealand, visit metservice.com - the home of New Zealand’s National Meteorological Service.