The Fiji Meteorological Services is actively engaging with the Systematic Observations Financing Facility to address critical gaps in weather forecasting capabilities across the country.

Acting Director Amit Singh says they have highlighted several blackspots in Fiji that need funding in order for them to get data from these areas.

Singh stresses that this is aimed at bolstering resilience to weather and climate-related challenges.

“For forecasters, the more data, the better the forecast will be. And also, to verify whether the forecast was correct or not, we need data to verify that. And also for the numerical weather prediction, we need data from around the country and around the region to go as input so the model can produce better guidance.”

He says these areas are in the western half of Vanua Levu, some parts of Viti Levu, and small island countries.

Amit says this is crucial as they provide weather forecasts for some parts of the Pacific region.

He adds that they continue to work with these island countries in terms of getting the appropriate data.