Sun sets on weatherman's career

LYLE MCMAHON

The MetService's charismatic weather ambassador Bob McDavitt is stepping down after 40 years with the organisation, but is issuing a final weather warning before he leaves.

The veteran weather expert is warning New Zealand's high pressure systems are becoming more "extreme", a factor which he believes is increasing the nation's big weather events.

While some may think more extreme highs means lots of sunny weather, Bob says the extreme highs are stalling New Zealand's weather system, causing following low pressure systems to linger and intensify over the country.

This was seen in December last year when an intense high stalled to the east of New Zealand, resulting in an ensuing low pressure system to become blocked over the country, causing severe flooding in the Nelson region, he says.

"The highs have an impact on our seasonal weather. When the highs are getting more intense, they also want to block and stop. When they stall out to the east of New Zealand they stall systems up stream of them and that's when you get the lows stalled over New Zealand.

"If the anti-cyclones are getting more extreme then that's going to impact on our seasonal forecast in the future."

McDavitt says more research into the extreme highs will help forecasters better predict weather variations.

"If we can anticipate them in advance it makes forecasting for agriculture, like what kind of plans do we put in for irrigation this year, those sort of questions can be more easily answered."

McDavitt ranked Cyclone Bola as New Zealand's most devastating weather event during his time in the profession, but says the flood that hit the Manawatu in 2004 was the most memorable.

He is the only person to hold the title of MetService weather ambassador, given to him in 1992, but that title will disappear when he leaves.

"I thought, well, my new position was to be representing the MetService in Auckland to everybody so I came up with the idea of being a weather ambassador.

"This title will stay with me in my retirement I suppose, and my successor will be a media and communications meteorologist so that's where the name actually describes better what his job will be doing."

McDavitt departs in mid February and will be succeeded by former BBC weather broadcaster Dan Corbett.

- © Fairfax NZ News