Learning Centre
Want to know how weather forecasts are made, how to tell your stratus cloud from your cirrus, or what an anticyclone is? You’ve come to the right place.
We are building a library of weather knowledge covering everything from thunderstorms to computer models. We’ll be adding to this learning centre over the coming months so if you’ve got a weather question or a meteorological mystery you want solved send your question to weather@metservice.com
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Atmospheric Optics
- 16 Jan 2025 Aurora
- 16 Jan 2025 Sun Pillars
- 16 Jan 2025 Light Pillars
- 16 Jan 2025 Sun Dog
- 16 Jan 2025 22° Circular Halos
- 16 Jan 2025 Circumzenithal Arc
- 16 Jan 2025 Corona
- 16 Jan 2025 Cloud Irisation
- 16 Jan 2025 Anti-Crepuscular Rays
- 16 Jan 2025 Crepuscular Rays
- 16 Jan 2025 Rainbows
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Cloud Types
- 13 Oct 2026 Stratus
- 12 Oct 2026 Nimbostratus
- 10 Oct 2026 Cirrus
- 9 Oct 2026 Cumulonimbus
- 8 Oct 2026 Cirrostratus
- 7 Oct 2026 Cirrocumulus
- 6 Oct 2026 Altocumulus Lenticularis
- 16 Jan 2025 Fog
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Weather Types
- 17 Mar 2026 Lightning
- 5 Dec 2025 Mugginess
- 4 Dec 2025 Sea Breezes
- 4 Dec 2025 Foehn Wind
- 4 Dec 2025 Convergence
- 4 Dec 2025 Thunderstorms
- 4 Dec 2025 Severe Thunderstorms
- 11 Nov 2025 Wind Chill
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Tropical Cyclones
- 11 Nov 2025 Understanding Tropical Cyclone Track Maps
- 10 Nov 2025 Tropical cyclones: Extra-tropical transition
- 10 Nov 2025 What’s in a name?
- 16 Jan 2025 Tropical Cyclone Gabrielle
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Weather Forecasting
- 4 Mar 2026 Layers of the Atmosphere
- 16 Jan 2025 The art of weather forecasting
- 16 Jan 2025 Modelling the weather
- 16 Jan 2025 How to read weather maps
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Climate
- 4 Mar 2026 Southern Annular Mode
- 29 Jan 2026 El Niño and La Niña
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Experiments
- 17 Jan 2025 Create a rain gauge
- 17 Jan 2025 Cloud in a Bottle
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Types of Fog
- 16 Jan 2025 Valley Fog
- 16 Jan 2025 Radiation Fog
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Weather Observation
- 15 Oct 2025 Automatic Weather Stations
- 16 Jan 2025 Observing the weather
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How-To
- 14 Oct 2026 How to defog your windshield
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Marine
- 20 May 2026 Sea State and Swell - What’s the difference?
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New Zealand Weather
- 23 Jul 2026 The Northwest Arch
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Past Weather Events
- 16 Jan 2025 Tropical Cyclone Gabrielle
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Seasons and Solstices
- 21 Sept 2026 Solstices, Equinoxes, and Equiluxes