Weather Solutions for Transport

MetService supports New Zealand’s transport sector with trusted road-weather forecasting and decision-support services.

Providing weather support for roading in Aotearoa is complex – NZ roads span from winding coastal routes to alpine high country, and contractors and users face a range of hazards, from freezing to melting conditions.

MetService delivers critical weather intelligence and decision-support tools to aid New Zealand’s transport network. We collaborate closely with Waka Kotahi NZ Transport agency, local councils, and major road contracting companies, to deliver tailored road-weather solutions.

There are two key elements of our service to the transport sector:

  1. Safeguarding the lives and livelihoods of road users by mitigating the impact of weather hazards.

  2. Improving road maintenance efficiency.

Ways we can help:

  • Weather Insights for Safety

    Access to accurate, timely weather information is essential for decision-makers charged with protecting road users’ safety around hazardous conditions.

    We combine real-time, localised data with meteorological analysis and predictions, to deliver proactive guidance that helps save lives on the roads.

  • Weather Insights for Maintenance

    Our solutions - including real-time observations, forecasts, impact assessments, and seasonal outlooks - inform decision-making, accelerate response time, guide resource allocation, and minimise downtime.

    We also offer tools for road maintenance – like mobile sensors installed on vehicles to detect surface conditions of roads - saving contractors precious time and resource.

  • State Highway Decision-Support Services

    Spanning 11,000km, NZ’s state highway network moves people and goods nationally, and is managed by NZTA on behalf of the government.

    Under MetService’s contract with NZTA, state highway maintenance contractors receive expert data, forecasts, and advice - from input into de-icing operations through to planning severe weather responses.

  • Local Road Decision-Support Services

    Local roads, which span 83,000km, move people and goods within regions, and are managed by local governments.

    We maintain close partnerships with regional councils – offering localised weather insights and advice to support decisions like road closures or maintenance scheduling.

  • Weather Consultancy

    We offer weather consulting services for the transport industry, leveraging advanced weather modelling, rich data and expert weather impact insights.

    Our expertise includes: natural hazard support for road contractors, meteorological advice for risk communication in severe weather scenarios, and climate risk assessments for new road builds

  • Weather Stations

    MetService has over 200 automatic weather stations across the country, providing data every 60 seconds to feed into forecasts and databases. Of these, more than 50 are dedicated to monitoring conditions along NZ’s state highways.

    These stations enable operators to swiftly detect problematic conditions (such as ice) and assist with dispatching crew efficiently, keeping roads safe and open.

  • Planning and Projects

    We support every stage of major transport and roading projects, with advanced tools and systems.

    Pre-project: high-resolution hindcasts and historical observation data to assess environmental suitability.

    Build phase: real-time monitoring helps to minimise adverse weather impacts.

    Post-project: continued monitoring for breaches of defined weather triggers that may detriment the asset.

  • Want to know more?

    Get in touch with our enthusiastic team today, to discuss how we can collaborate.

    Contact us

Products for the Transport Industry

Road Weather System (via MetConnect)

MetService’s Road Weather System is a powerful tool that delivers quality road weather information for the entire State Highway network. Users can view archived past data, real-time observations, and forecasts from a network-wide perspective, right down to a small section of road within a region.

The system advises which roads will freeze, become slippery, or are likely to melt, and when and where these conditions may occur. Plus, stay informed with automatic alerts for conditions that exceed thresholds.

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Weather Briefings

Our team of expert road weather meteorologists are on hand to provide tailored weather advice and impact guidance for your build projects or operational maintenance work. 

Our written or verbal (phone call) briefings can be scheduled regularly, or occur on an ad-hoc basis.

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Threat Matrices

A threat matrix depicts the likelihood and severity of incoming weather that may pose a risk to transport operations. The familiar traffic light visualisation (red/orange/green) is easy to interpret, enabling you to quickly grasp the situation and make informed decisions.

Our severe weather matrices can cover any section of road, and use custom, pre-defined thresholds (i.e. quantified ice, rain, or snow levels) that are likely to impact operations, pose a safety risk, or lead to downtime, disruptions or road closures.

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Want to know more about our weather solutions?

We're here to talk you through it.

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