Since WeatherWatch was first dreamt up in September 2005 it has steadily grown in popularity – but, as with anything that becomes more popular, the demand for accuracy and more services increases too.

The WeatherWatch brand – initially the “Weather Watch Centre” when it was once owned by The Radio Network, and now “WeatherWatch.co.nz” in its new form – is appearing more and more across the media here in New Zealand and throughout some international TV channels and websites (CNN, The Weather Channel, Canadian TV to name a few).

With these new challenges it made us think about who actually drives WeatherWatch.co.nz – and clearly it’s you, the readers/viewers/listeners. 

We are constantly reshaping what we do – while working in the background on growing new things.  It’s taking a very long time for some things to come to fruition (national forecasts for example) but we are working on it – unfortunately it means we’re now at the control of other organisations and their time frames are far more relaxed than ours.

The weather brings out strong emotions in many of us – adrenalin rushes, slumps, happiness, depression – the weather contributes to it all.

Many of us can relate to the excitement of an incoming thunderstorm…then the disappointed feeling when it fails to arrive.  In some ways it brings out the kid in us – sometimes irratic emotions and feeling cranky when things don’t go quite the way we wanted!

We are frequently emailed “thanks for your accuracy” and “I wish TV used your forecasts”.  But we’re also emailed “you didn’t predict the shower at my place” and “your high was wrong by two degrees”.  We get it all.

Some are fixated on sou’west winds… others hate nor’easters.  Some have a passion for photographing clouds, others love to be the first to email us about severe weather.  Some repeatedly complain about splelling mistaeks despite many of our stories being rushed to be published (and we truly hate spelling mistakes too).

Some frequently complain about the lack of thunderstorms while others complain about too many North Island stories (oh and many complain about too many South Island stories too!). 

Some pray for winter, some pray that winter never arrives.

Some love the rainstorms, others fear them, knowing the damage they caused last time to their property.

Some hate humidity, others love it. 

Some love only WeatherWatch.co.nz, some like MetService as well.

But there is one thing that everyone who comes to our website loves – and that is simply “the weather”. 

It interests you, it captures you, it intrigues you.  Apart from sport, there are very few mainstream things that capture such attention from all walks of life, from primary school kids to Nanna and Grandad and everyone in between.

We love the comments you send us – and while we don’t publish 100% of them (for obvious reasons) we do enjoy the many you send us – your own predictions, your own thoughts and your questions.

With so many strong feelings in this field it’s no wonder the comments on this site are as varied as our own weather…and for that, we thank you.

Philip Duncan, Richard Green and the team at WeatherWatch.co.nz