The outlook for Invercargill is brighter, as a group of Southlanders plan to follow Dunedin's example and install a new weather station.
The belief that temperature readings taken at Invercargill Airport could be several degrees cooler than experienced in the city led to Venture Southland fronting up with a weather plan.
"There is a belief out there that the weather reported from the airport paints a less than rosy picture compared to what we actually enjoy," Venture Southland enterprise project manager Robin McNeill said.
The regional development agency had secured funding for the project and planned to move a surplus weather station, left over from a project on energy-efficient cowsheds, to a new, hopefully warmer, location, he said.
"I could put it in my hot water cupboard, but it is important we get the right place. It has to be believable," Mr McNeill said.
The agency was in talks with the MetService about having two weather stations, one at the airport and the other at a city location to provide weather data, such as temperatures, for television.
"The weather forecasters often tell us we are having bad weather when we are not. This [weather station] is a way to break perceptions of Invercargill's weather. Whether this makes a difference remains to be seen."
TVNZ weather presenter Karen Olsen said it did not matter where a weather station was situated, but it had to meet all the guidelines to get an accurate reading.
"I can understand people in Invercargill wanting to move their thermometer from the airport into a place that is more representative of where most of the people live. I have no objections to them changing it."
Dunedin was one city which had installed a new weather station for the sake of the television weather presentation, she said.
The weather station was installed above the Dunedin Public Art Gallery, in the Octagon, in December 2006, becoming part of the MetService network to supply daily temperatures for television.
Invercargill Mayor Tim Shadbolt said his city should follow Dunedin's example and establish a new weather station.
"I think it is a great idea. It always seems to be a lot colder when you look at the weather forecast on the television and it adds to the perception of Invercargill being cold. When I talk to people about moving south they always bring up the weather as a reason not to move."
The new weather station is likely to be completed by the end of the year - just in time for summer.
