Wairoa has made the MetService’s weather map.

The town has been added to the town and city pages as part of the national meteorological service’s website refresh.

The addition came following a request from Wairoa District Council chief executive Steven May.

Mr May canvassed the national weather watch organisation and it was discovered MetService has an automatic weather station (AWS) at Wairoa Airport.

The site is one of the few airports in the country which is inland from the township, and therefore temperatures won't be affected by sea breeze.

Mr May was thrilled to have Wairoa included saying access to a national forecast will provide valuable information for locals and people coming to Wairoa.

“Our favourable warm climate and ideal growing rainfall could also be a trigger for economic development.

“People come to Wairoa and tell us what an amazing climate we have.

“Now that we will literally be on the map we will have name recognition and become even more of a destination.”

MetService chief executive Peter Lennox said weather was integral to people's safety, their day and livelihoods.

“We're always looking at how we can enhance the vital information we provide New Zealanders. We've listened to the feedback of our audiences, which has helped us shape the new site.

“This upgrade provides us with a more flexible web platform, which allows us to be more adaptable as the future of forecasting evolves,” he said.

MetService digital product manager Stephanie Raill said the website is a destination that people relied on to plan their day.

“The layout of the pages has changed, but no content has been removed.

“We've just made it easier to find the most relevant forecast, in a variety of ways for the very broad range of people who use the website.

“We can better communicate urgent and critical information such as severe weather warnings.”

Mr May thanked Mr Lennox and his staff for including Wairoa on the national service.

The refreshed site will run alongside the original website over the coming months.

19 August 2019

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