I have a very unscientific way of calculating the number of natural disasters in the world at any given time – my workload.  My role at WeatherWatch.co.nz isn’t as straight forward as other weather forecasters – there is a heavy news element to it too.

There is a large grey area when it comes to what news stories suit our format.  Overseas most private weather forecasters, who have a news element, more often than not have a strong focus on other environmental news that isn’t always weather related.

For example the Gulf of Mexico oil spill last year, the volcanic eruption in Iceland and of course the Christchurch earthquake.

November and December of last year were quiet months news-wise for us.  We had a looming drought but, more importantly, a looming La Nina Summer which promised some big rain events over the coming months in our part of the world. 

As Christmas rolled in so too did the rain clouds both here and in Australia.  The stories started to filter in from Queensland between Christmas and New Year.

By the start of 2011 the Queensland flood story dominated the headlines as conditions went from bad to catastrophic.  Then the cyclones started.  Cyclone Yasi was the big one, the monster category 5 cyclone that, thankfully, made landfall in the sleepy seaside town of Innisfail instead of Cairns or Townsville on either side.  It was easy to evacuate such a small town and the death toll reflected that – not one person was directly killed by the cyclone.

But the Queensland floods preceding Yasi were far worse, dozens were killed as flash floods roared through the state. 

Over just a few weeks New Zealand had five named systems from the tropics with the most aggressive being Cyclone Wilma which cost 25 million dollars in damage to the upper North Island and was our first technical tropical cyclone to ever reach our shores.

Then February went quiet….the rain stopped.  The floods stopped.  The cyclones moved to western Australia where few people live.  The tranquility of summer started to take over again – as the South Island surged to 42 degrees and large highs gave us little wind and plenty of sun.

But then February 22nd arrived and an estimated 182 lives were taken in the normally peaceful city of Christchurch.  A city that was getting back on its feet after the massive 7.1 quake in September.  The earthquake stopped the whole country in its tracks.  It was utterly surreal.  As someone who has been to Christchurch every month since the quake in September I felt – as many of us did – very connected to the city and personally quite emotional.

WeatherWatch.co.nz has a team of direct and indirect reporters.  Through our strong ties with The Radio Network and the New Zealand Herald we have reporters all around New Zealand who file stories or leads directly to us and keep us up to date as disasters unfold.   The Christchurch quake was quite unusual for us.  Richard Green and I especially love the news and admire the power of Mother Nature but we didn’t really know how to react to this one.  So we didn’t.  Apart from some breaking news stories we haven’t had a lot of coverage out of Christchurch this time around.  Many have thanked us for that – allowing WeatherWatch.co.nz to be an escape from the cruel reality but still being able to read environmental and weather news stories from New Zealand and abroad.

Last Friday night, after an emotional few weeks that many people across New Zealand and Japan have faced since that quake on February 22 it was hard to imagine anything that could be worse.  A reporter friend of mine had told me earlier on that day that she was pleased it was Friday night and she was glad to finally have a break from all the horrible news of late.  Then, of course, the Japan earthquake struck…and the tsunami…and the nuclear crisis.

Some people have commented on our Facebook page about why WeatherWatch.co.nz has focused on stories outside of the weather.  Well, there are two reasons.  One, the weather around New Zealand has been fairly quiet for the past month or so (although that’s now changing).  The past month has been a slow news month weather-wise with our focus being on when the next rain band will be and when the temperatures are going to change – but very little severe weather.  The second, and most important reason, is because our readers vote with their mouses.

It’s you who often dictates to us what you want to read.  On February 22nd you didn’t come to our site for the Christchurch earthquake coverage.  Our biggest story that day was Cyclone Atu which passed by to our east.  However last weekend it was the Tsunami coverage that lead our website – by far.  More people came to WeatherWatch.co.nz to get their tsunami/earthquake news than some mainstream news websites.

This website is evolving every week – we all appreciate the comments and feedback you give us (well, the constructive feedback!) so if you feel that we’re missing the mark let us know.

Personally I feel like we have a good balance of weather news and non-weather news, especially when conditions here in New Zealand are quiet.

Lastly, after 9/11 I remember hearing Larry Williams on NewstalkZB talk to US correspondent Steve Merczynski.  They were reminiscing of the “good ol’ days” when the news was about Bill Clinton’s sex scandal… when the main headlines weren’t all about death and fear.  This year I feel the same way… wouldn’t it be nice to focus on a few severe thunderstorms and some harmless storms – and not the death and destruction which is rapidly becoming iconic of 2011.  It’s quite overwhelming when you think about all the innocent lives lost this year.  My heart goes out – and breaks – to all those people in New Zealand, Japan and Australia who have lost loved ones this year.   It’s just simply not fair.

---

Philip Duncan, WeatherWatch.co.nz head weather analyst