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Story: Weather forecasting

Television weather forecasts

Since the 1960s the forecast at the end of the television evening news has told many New Zealanders whether it would rain or shine the next day. The technology and presentation of the forecast has changed dramatically over that time. In the first clip from 1978 Tina Carline uses a static map of New Zealand and a wooden pointer. But by 2002 Jim Hickey was working with interactive satellite imagery and drawing on new concepts such as El Niño.

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TVNZ Television New Zealand

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How to cite this page

Erick Brenstrum, Weather forecasting – Making forecasts, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/video/7590/television-weather-forecasts (accessed 10 June 2026).

Story by Erick Brenstrum, published 2 March 2009, updated 1 June 2016.

Comments

Liyana
06 March 2025
That's a great reflection on how much the presentation and technology around weather forecasting have evolved over the decades in New Zealand! The change from static maps and physical props like wooden pointers to interactive satellite imagery and more advanced forecasting concepts shows how much the industry has embraced technology to provide more accurate and engaging information.