1News weather expert Daniel Corbett says he has seen the weather change dramatically in his time as a meteorologist and broadcaster.
The weather always seems to be the topic of conversation - especially nowadays with topsy-turvy extreme conditions.
Having worked in weather for nearly 40 years and TV broadcasting for more than 30 I have seen quite a bit and watched how moods have changed towards the weather. And not just here in New Zealand but also around the globe in my journey as a global broadcast meteorologist.
When people come up to me that, say, I meet in the shop, the question more and more these days is: “What is going on with the weather?" Not just the typical, "How is the weekend looking?"
People are getting more interested and even concerned about the weather extremes. This is especially true for those who have experienced the full brunt of nature across New Zealand - the flooding, wind damage and so on.
Many years ago, when I was in university, we learned about our warming planet and the increasing risk of climate extremes to come.
In my early days of weather forecasting - in the US and UK - we learned how weather systems behaved and how to interpret the forecast using the current observation data and computer forecast models.
I can remember back then learning about the seasons around the globe and how they changed based on position of the direct rays of sun over the year. Quite often back then many places experienced typical weather.
Cold in winter and warm in summer.
Back then too, few asked about weather extremes or global warming.
Supercharged
Nowadays the weather has that extra supercharged element of global warming in the atmosphere.
We also seem to get different types of weather at any time of the year. Snow in summer or 20C in winter!
Global warming has increased the overall temperatures in our oceans and atmosphere because of the increasing levels of CO2 which in turn creates a greenhouse effect (warming).
The big change we can see in the daily weather is how the warming has affected the jet stream, which steers our weather systems and the warm/cold air.
The jet stream has become more erratic due to the change differential warming across the globe.
As we know, not everyone has a similar view on the changes happening across the planet. In some parts of the world these changes are considered part of the natural cycles.
As a result, for weather people the reception from viewers is not always favourable.
I even know of weather forecasters in other parts of the world who have left the industry because of negative online backlash.
Thankfully here in New Zealand our location - surrounded by water and midway between the tropics and the Antarctic - has made perhaps made us more used to volatile weather in a maritime location.
As the latest belt of wild weather shows, it doesn't look like that will be changing any time soon.
Dan Corbett explains why he's 'still stunned' by NZ's changing weather - watch on TVNZ+
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