Tokelau's Weather Station, Up and RunningApia, Samoa 27 October 2004 - Tokelau's Automatic Weather Station is installed, primed and operational. For the people of Tokelau, the physical presence of its weather station is timely especially with onset of the Cyclone season and the continuing concerns over global warming not far from the public domain. "This facility will go some way to reassuring the people of Tokelau that critical data is being gathered to predict future weather patterns and other relevant data", said Mr Falani Aukuso, General Manager for Tokelau's Public Service. "It will provide Fiji with critical information so that they can give our people early warnings on any abnormal weather events like cyclones that threaten our atolls." The weather station has been out of action for the past 18 months but now, according to Mr Aukuso, "It brings to a culmination the excellent cooperation that we in Tokelau have had with the NZ Met Services over this project. And it continues the excellent support that we have traditionally enjoyed with NZ Met Services through the personal involvement of Mr Gary Clarke". Over the past 18 months, the Fiji weather office, the primary weather centre for Tokelau has been providing forecasting services to Tokelau free of charge. Located on the atoll of Nukunonu, the station feeds hourly climate data through a Japanese weather satellite to Fiji. This data then feeds into the Global Synoptic Network that monitors global climate trends and sea-level rise. Mr Garry Clarke says, "Although it's a standard unit, the Nukunonu station is different in that it provides hourly reports as compared to the normal 3-hourly reports by these stations. One of which is located on Swains Island. "This is significant as the increased data will allow us to improve the accuracy of our forecasting and locate cyclonic developments in the region. The increased data also provides us with a better basis to see long-term climate trends in the region." For Tokelau, this means that weather warnings coming out of the Fiji Weather Centre would be quicker—with warnings possibly 3-days ahead of a weather event like cyclones. "At the end of the day, it does give us a sense of security that there is something for us. Something that will warn us of a possible abnormal weather event." For further information contact
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