Auckland's rain radar has reached its end of life and is vulnerable to significant outages in the event of a component failure.
The coverage of country's largest city and biggest international airport relies on outdated technology, which limits forecasting and warning capabilities in the region.
This was the advice given to Associate Minister of Transport James Meager - who has oversight of the Meteorological Service of New Zealand Limited (MetService) contract for forecasting.
The Auckland rain radar, commissioned in 1989, is the oldest in the network and while periodic upgrades have allowed it to extend its useful life well beyond the typical 20-year horizon, it is now in need of urgent replacement.
To discuss are MetService's General Manager of Observing Systems Kevin Alder and MetService's Chief Meteorologist Chris Noble.
The remote rain radar is located on Mount Tamahunga near Warkworth and is only accessible via helicopter. Photo: Supplied by MetService
