The debate over whether Dunedin's weather gets a raw deal on television has heated up again and the council will investigate the location of the city's weather station.
Deputy mayor Cr Chris Staynes said yesterday the council would check if the present weather station, installed above the Dunedin Public Art Gallery, in the Octagon, gave an accurate reflection of the city's weather.
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There was a "consistent'' message from the city's residents the weather station was recording colder temperatures than other parts of the city, Cr Staynes said. If this was the case, the council would look at moving the station to help fight misconceptions about the city's climate.
"There is the perception that Dunedin is cold, but actually Dunedin isn't cold. We are actually in a very moderate climate.''
Cr Staynes' comments come after the issue was brought up by Cr Jinty MacTavish at this week's economic development committee meeting, after she was contacted by a member of the public.
MetService communications meteorologist Lisa Murray said as the weather station in the Octagon was owned by the council, MetService would be "open'' to it being moved, if a spot was picked that met its criteria.
The council would have to pay moving costs and the criteria included not having stations beside a cement building, which caused temperatures to rise.
The perception Dunedin gets a raw deal on television weather reports has been raised before.
In 2006, when the weather station was installed above the Dunedin Public Art Gallery - at a cost of $15,000 to the council - there were hopes it would result in higher temperatures for the city.
Raineffects hydrologist David Stewart said the issue was a long-running one, but finding an answer was difficult.
The weather station in the Octagon often recorded cooler temperatures than other parts of the city because it was affected by the sea breeze coming up the harbour, Mr Stewart said.
"It's a real problem, because the temperature can vary so much throughout the city on nice sunny days.''
Suburbs north of the Octagon could be up to 9degC warmer on some days.
There had been a suggestion the weather station should be at Unity Park, in Mornington, which was probably high enough to miss some of the harbour winds, but that would open it to the risk of vandalism.
