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8 August, Apia, Samoa – A virtual Pacific Regional Climate Centre (RCC), has been established and is now in the ‘demonstration phase’. Endorsed at the fourth Pacific Meteorological Council, in Solomon Islands in 2017, this RCC will provide Pacific National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs) with the climate and climate variability and change data and information needed for improved high-resolution products. The RCC is a one-stop shop for all climate and climate change information/data for the Pacific.

This week at the Fifth Pacific Meteorological Council in Samoa (PMC-5), delegates have learnt the current phase of the Pacific RCC is required for efficiency.

“I am very pleased to announce the Pacific Regional Climate Centre has now progressed to the demonstration phase after going through a strict set of tasks to complete,” said Mr Andrew Tait, Chief Scientist – Climate, Atmosphere and Hazards of the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA).

“This demonstration phase with the World Meteorological Organization will see the network tested for efficiency for a period of a year or so before it is passed as a ‘designated RCC’.

More formally known as the World Meteorological Organization Regional Association-V Pacific Islands Regional Climate Centre (WMO RA-V PI-RCC), the centre provides a regional overview and platform on the state of climate on a regional scale.

The Pacific RCC fills an information gap and allows NMHSs in the region to understand what is happening around them, such as the current state of ocean conditions, forecasts for rainfall and temperature, and climate change predictions throughout our region.

Prior to this information was provided from climate models and data sets on a global scale and the national scale, but not at the regional scale that suits the Pacific region.

The RCC is support by the University of Papua New Guinea (UPNG), National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) New Zealand, Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BoM), US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) and Australian Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Meteo-France, University of Hawaii, and Pacific Community (SPC).

The Fifth Pacific Meteorological Council (PMC-5) from 6 – 9 August, 2019 follows a range of pre-PMC meetings which were held in Apia, Samoa from 29 July - 6 August, 2019.

The PMC-5 is supported by a strong partnership between the following: The Government of Samoa, the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP), World Meteorological Organization (WMO), Government of Australia through the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Government of Canada, Government of Korea, Climate Risk Early Warning Systems (CREWS), Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), IMPACT Project, Varysian, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Climate and Oceans Support Programme in the Pacific (COSPPac), and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

For more information on the PMC-5 please visit the Pacific Met Desk website https://www.pacificmet.net/pmc/meetings/pmc-5 or email Salesa Nihmei salesan@sprep.org or Philip Malsale philipm@sprep.org