Despite a significant portion of the country facing less-than-ideal weather conditions once again this Christmas season, since the turn of the new year, the sun has largely shone brightly up and down Aotearoa.
WeatherWatch CEO Phil Duncan joins REX host Dom George to break down the current meteorological conditions. Duncan provides an update on the mild summer weather that has, fortunately, not been marred by severe storms or tropical cyclones, unlike the previous year.
Contrary to the recent heatwave, he notes that change is on the horizon.
"We're going to get a bit of a temperature drop... frost and snow possible," Duncan says, indicating a sudden shift to winter-like conditions in the South Island, particularly for campers and trampers.
This phenomenon is likened to the capricious nature of the roaring 40s weather patterns. He also shares his fascination with a sprawling high-pressure zone that spanned over 10,000 kilometres from New Zealand to South America, which he describes as "like the big chip in the potato packet... interesting but not impactful on the weather."
The new WeatherWatch app is available to download now, also offering a free trial of the pro version providing a user with multiple saved locations and greater information and data.
Although their new app is greatly improved, Duncan explained that their app has a low rating on the app store as a consequence of government regulations on its predecessor.
"We get like a one out of five because of the government, which is kind of unfair."
Duncan explains the purpose of the app is to help provide weather alerts ahead of time, based on each user's specific needs to eliminate any 'nasty surprises'.
"You set the criteria, this week I want to know when the temperature is going to get down to frost territory … even if you have been looking and thinking, oh there is a cold change coming, if you've set the criteria and then you start getting alerts it locks it in for you that, oh it's coming."
George and Duncan wrapped up their chat by discussing some of their recent casual viewing preferences, both reminiscing on the classics and also praising newer releases on streaming platforms.
Listen to the full chat between Phil Duncan and Dominic George above.
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