Page Index:

*About This Palmerston North Weather Station and location
*About Palmerston North, New Zealand
    *The Name
    *The History
    *The Geography
    *Parks and Recreation
*Weather Data Accuracy
*So, what details are in the top heading banner on this site?
*Palmy Weather's References, Acknowledgements and Bibliography

About This Palmerston North Weather Station and location

January 2009 saw the launch of the "Palmy Weather" website, providing live weather data it was gathering to the community of Palmerston North and the wider Manawatū. This site has now been operating for over 17 years and has become a valuable and accessible resource to the region. It is an easy to use website where people can get live weather readings for the city of Palmerston North as well as information regarding the rest of New Zealand and live webcams. This weather station is located just west of the city centre and data is updated automatically every 10 seconds.

In the early days, an off-the-shelf "Fine Offset" WH1081 weather station was in operation from 2009 until 2015 before a custom home built "WeatherDuino Pro2" system was assembled and used. This home built system provided more reliable data gathering with a wider range of environmental sensors that were implemented over time. This included wind, rain, temperature, solar/UV, ground moisture and temperature and air quality. The system was fully customisable, using an "Arduino Nano" processor in most of the transmitting and receiving devices and was connection to a Windows PC running "CumulusMX" via a USB port to process and upload the raw data to the Palmy Weather website for displaying.

Ten years on, the home built system was showing its age with many parts requiring replacing and these components becoming harder to find or expensive. Off-the-shelf technology had significantly developed over the 10 years this home built station was in operation. An investment into the Ecowitt framework of sensors was made and fully deployed at the start of 2026 after months of robust testing. Along with the now standard sensors provided by the home built station, more advanced technologies could be introduced including lightning and storm tracking, more accurate air quality system along with a more reliable rain gauge which offered a larger catchment reducing splash out, no vibration issues and includes spider/bug protection. The wind sensors have been upgraded to a system with no moving parts providing the need for less maintenance.

Now there are over 20 sets of environmental data being sent from external sensors every few seconds to the receiver where it is processed before being passed onto CumulusMX software via an IP network for further analysis and uploaded onto the Palmy Weather website where our users can view a range of live and historic data in a variety of formats including tables and graphs.

The full list of Ecowitt weather hardware and model numbers include:
GW3000 Ecowitt Wi-Fi Server, WS90 Wittboy 7-in-1 Outdoor Weather Sensor Array, WH40H High-top 19cm⌀ Self-Emptying Rain Gauge, WH45 5-in-1 Air Quality Sensor, WH31 Thermometer Hygrometer, WN34S 30cm Soil Temperature Sensor, WH51 Soil Moisture Meter, WH57 Lightning Detection, and finally HP2560_C 7-Inch TFT Weather Station Display Screen to visually see all this data.

Station specifications and limitations:
1) All outdoor temperature ranges: -40°C to +60°C (±0.5%)
2) Indoor temperature range: -40°C to +60°C (±0.5%)
3) All humidity ranges: 0% to 100% (±3.5%)
4) Rain volume resolution: 0.1mm (±5%)
5) Wind speed resolution: 0km/s to 144km/s (±0.36km/s)
6) Air pressure: 300hPa to 1100hPa (±5%)
7) UV Index: 1 to 15 UVI (±2)
8) Solar Radiation range: 0W/m2 to 1500 W/m2 (±25%)
9) PM2.5: 0ug/m3 to 999ug/m3 (±15ug/m3)
10) PM10: 0ug/m3 to 999ug/m3 (±25ug/m3)
11) CO2: 0 - 40000ppm (±25%)
12) Lightning: 40km detection range
13) Soil Moisture: 0 to 200AD / 0% to 100% (±5%)
14) Transmission frequency: 433MHz, 100m+ range

Hardware System History Summary:
1/1/2026 to Current: Ecowitt Modular Environment Systems
1/11/2015 to 1/1/2026: WeatherDuino Pro2 - Homebuilt
1/1/2009 to 1/11/2015: WH1081 - Fine Offset Electronics

This is a privately owned weather station and website. In no way are we obligated to provide this service. There are periods of down time with the system and we are in no way liable for this or data provided. The weather forecast on this site is only a prediction based the data gathered from the weather station and program software.
Click here to find out more information about our weather forecasting.

Disclaimer: Although "Palmy Weather" tries to provide accurate and reliable information, there may be inaccuracies. The weather forecast and information displayed on this website is a calculation based upon the data compiled from the local weather station.
This data is not intended for protection or preservation of life or property. Use discretion when making weather based decisions.


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About Palmerston North, New Zealand

Palmerston North (Māori: Te Papa-i-oea) is the main city of the Manawatū-Wanganui region of the North Island of New Zealand and is affectionately known as Palmy. It is an inland city with a population of 84,639 (2018 census) making it the 8th largest city in New Zealand. A large proportion of its population consists of students attending Massey University, Universal College of Learning (UCOL) or International Pacific College during the student year. Over half of the city's population is under the age of 25 and the city has been marketed as 'Student City'.

The Name

The city was first named "Palmerston", in honour of Viscount Palmerston, a former Prime Minister of Great Britain. The suffix "North" was added in 1871 by the Post Office to distinguish the settlement from Palmerston in the South Island, though locals still widely refer to the city simply as Palmerston or "Palmy". Locals are known as Palmerstonians. The Māori transliteration of Palmerston is "Pamutana", but this is largely unused, with Papa-i-oea (commonly contracted to Papaioea) being the preferred option, e.g. Te Kura Kohine o Papaioea (Palmerston North Girls' High School) and Te Hohipera o Papaioea (Palmerston North Hospital). Papa-i-oea is believed to mean "How beautiful it is".

The History

Ngati Rangitane were the local Māori iwi (tangata whenua) living in the area known as Te Ahu-a-Turanga, when a trader, Jack Duff, became the first known European to explore the area in 1830. He came on a whaling ship, and explored as far inland as the site of Woodville. He reported his discovery on arrival back to Porirua. Colonel Wakefield heard of the potential that the Manawatū had for development and visited in 1840. In 1846 Charles Hartley, another trader, heard from tangata whenua of a clearing in the forest and he proceeded through the dense bush and forest and discovered it for Europeans.

The Government surveyed the area in 1866-67. The original subdivision of Palmerston North was made in 1866, in the natural clearing in the Papaioea Forest, as found by Hartley. A township was laid out by J.T. Stewart, an employee of the Wellington Provincial Government.

Stewart's plan consisted of a series of wide and straight streets, laid out in a rectangular pattern, with the focal point being an open space of 17 acres (7 ha) subsequently known as The Square. Landmarks named after Stewart included Stewart Crescent in Palmerston North and Mt Stewart, near Sanson.

The four original streets meeting at the Square are now called Fitzherbert Avenue (from the south), Main Street East, Main Street West and Rangitikei Street. As the settlement grew, the forest diminished to make way for farms, and today virtually no remnant of it survives.

By 1877, when the Borough Council came into existence, Palmerston North was an isolated village in the midst of the native forest that covered inland Manawatū. The population was approximately 800 people and sawmilling was the main industry of the district. The arrival of the railway in 1886 saw an increase in the speed of growth, and by 1900 the population was 6,000. By this time the town was at the centre of a lucrative agricultural district.

In 1930, the population reached the 20,000 threshold and Palmerston North was officially proclaimed a city. Development was slow due to the great depression and World War II. An airport was established at Milson in 1936, which is now Palmerston North International Airport. After the war growth was rapid, with the population rising to over 50,000 by the mid 1970s.

The Geography

Palmerston North covers an area of 325.94 square kilometres (126 sq mi) and one million people live within a two-hour drive (200 km/120 mile radius). It is about 140 km (87 mi) north of the capital, Wellington, in the eastern part of the Manawatū Plains, and close to the northern bank of the Manawatū River. It is 35 km (22 mi) from the river's mouth and 12 km (7 mi) from the end of the Manawatū Gorge.

The official limits of the city take in rural areas to the south and north-east of the main urban area, extending to the Tararua Ranges and including the town of Ashhurst at the mouth of the Manawatū Gorge. This is a rich and fertile agricultural area.

Palmerston North's climate is temperate with maximum daytime temperatures averaging 22 °C (72 °F) in summer and 12 °C (54 °F) in winter. On average temperatures rise above 25 °C (77 °F) on 20 days of the year. Annual rainfall is approximately 960 mm (37.8 in) with rain occurring approximately 5% of the time. There are on average 200 rain-free days each year.

In the ranges that flank the city there is often sustained wind, especially in spring. Much of this land is within the city boundaries and these ranges has the reputation of providing the most consistent wind in the country. As a result, Palmerston North is under increasing tension between wind farm operators who want to build more renewable energy wind turbines and local residents who wish to continue to enjoy untouched scenery. Close to the city is the largest electricity-generating wind farm in the southern hemisphere, with 158 turbines in the Tararua and Ruahine Ranges providing power for approximately 30,000 homes.

Parks and Recreation

The city's main streets are arranged in a grid around The Square, a seven-hectare park of lawn, trees, lakes, fountains, and gardens in the centre of the city. This park contains the city's war memorial, a memorial to Te Peeti Te Awe Awe, the Rangitane chief who was instrumental in the sale of Palmerston North district to the government in 1865, and a clock tower whose illuminated cross was damaged in a storm in the first half of 2006. The damage to the cross and its subsequent removal rekindled a discussion about the appropriateness of a Christian symbol in the centre of a city whose citizens are of many cultures and religious backgrounds. The Māori name for the Square is Te Marae o Hine. Te Peeti Te Awe Awe was one member of a Māori contingent who gathered around 1878 to choose a Māori name for The Square. The meaning of the name is The Courtyard of the Daughter of Peace chosen in the hope that all people and all races would live together in enduring peace.

There are a number of parks in the city. The foremost is the Victoria Esplanade along the northern bank of the Manawatū River, to the west of Fitzherbert Avenue. The esplanade includes gardens, children's play areas, an aviary, a miniature railway, walking tracks, and sports fields (Ongley-Manawaroa Park).

Information sourced from: Wikipedia and referenced in our bibliography.

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Weather Data Accuracy

The weather data displayed on the website comes wirelessly from outside sensors before being processed by Sanday Soft's Cumulus software. The software bases weather forecasts upon current pressure readings. Usually pressure less than 1010hPa brings unsettled weather. Greater than 1010hPa brings settled weather. From 1020hPa, weather is generally sunny and calm. 1030hPa or more can bring changeable weather from fine sunny days to thunder storms.

Cumulus also bases the forecast upon how quickly the pressure is rising or falling. Static pressure usually brings settled weather. Rapidly falling or rising pressure usually brings bad, uneasy weather.

Occasionally some figures may not be displayed accurately on the site. This is usually caused by a transmission error. We try to fix these errors as quickly as we can however sometimes the days extremes may be compromised until we can fix this problem.

Our help page has more information about forecasting, units of measure and weather station warnings & alerts.

Disclaimer: Although "Palmy Weather" tries to provide accurate and reliable information, there may be inaccuracies. The weather forecast and information displayed on this website is a calculation based upon the data compiled from the local weather station.
This data is not intended for protection or preservation of life or property. Use discretion when making weather based decisions.

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So, what details are in the top heading banner on this site?

Any Palmerstonian (a Palmerston North resident) will tell you, they know they are home when they see some of the key geographical landmarks our city holds. As a grass-roots website showcasing the weather of Palmerston North (colloquially known as Palmy), we want to ensure our users know they were home on the Palmy Weather website by reflecting this in the heading banner.

For a number of years, we had a banner with a sun and moon that tracks across the sky as the time of day changes. Different cloud and lighting effects would happen during the day and night and as the sun would rise and set. If it rains or is foggy, the sky effects reflect this as well. But there was nothing that really tied these graphics and animations back to Palmerston North, so in 2023 we set out to change this with our new design.

When thinking about key geography and topography landmarks around Palmerston North, two key things spring to mind: Wharite Peak with it's defining transmitter tower atop and the wind turbines along the Tararua Range.

After seeing photos taken from atop of the Tararua Range looking northerly towards Wharite Peak in the background and with the wind turbines in the foreground, we thought that would be a fantastic representation of the Palmerston North and wider Manawatū district.

There are a number of wind farms located on the outskirts of Palmerston North, most noted are Te Apiti, Tararua and Te Rere Hau Wind Farms. The growth of the wind farms in our region will continue in the coming decades which continues to help grow our local economy.

Along with a graphic of Wharite Peak and a representation of the wind turbines, our heading banner changes throughout the day and night with different cloud effects and phases of the moon. It is dynamic and changes to the weather information our site is displaying, for example the wind turbines do not spin if there is no wind and rain will show if it is being recorded by our weather station. At night, the wind turbines will flash a red beacon every two seconds, just like can be seen emitting from the hills of the Tararua Range.

There are a few little "Easter Eggs" which spring up throughout the year such as fireworks on the New Year, a pumpkin on Halloween and a black cat appears every "Friday the Thirteenth". Our banner is also used to commemorate events such as Waitangi Day and ANZAC Day. Even more rare is an actual Blue Moon which will rise if there is a second full moon within a calendar month, and Santa with his reindeer might even make an appearance as they travel across the night sky on Christmas Eve. During the month of December, the tree will change to a Pōhutukawa in bloom which is also known as the "New Zealand Christmas tree" due to the time of year it flowers.

The Manawatū region loves wind turbines so much, the local mens rugby football team is known as the "Turbos" and the "Cyclones" is the name of the womans team. Both teams represent our region with many rugby matches held at the local stadium, "Arena Manawatū" which proudly sports their own working wind turbine model located at the main outside stadium.

The term "The heart of the Manawatū" underneath the "Palmy Weather" name is not really specific to our website, but more related to Palmerston North and where it sits within the Manawatū. Palmerston North is not part of the Manawatū District Council, however is the largest city within the Manawatū-Wanganui region and this making it a central hub. This however may conflict with Māori definition of "Manawatū" which has the meaning of "heart standing still".

We feel this banner is a one-of-a-kind point of difference for our website, not having seen anything similar to it on the internet. We feel it reflects and represents our region well and hope our website users enjoy it as much as we do.



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Palmy Weather's References, Acknowledgements and Bibliography

Website Acknowledgements and References

We would like to thank the people in New Zealand and around the world who made this website possible. And a big thank you to the online community at Cumulus/Sandaysoft and Meteo Cercal.

This website has been designed, developed and maintained by M.S.A Development. M.S.A Development also assembled the hardware and designing the weather station to suit the location as well as setting up the computer link to get this data to the Palmy Weather website and carries out the ongoing maintenance.

Getting the raw data from our weather station processed and uploaded onto the Palmy Weather website would not be achievable without the ongoing global development of the Cumulus software. This is an amazing community helping put together a open source software for others to enjoy and enabling small private weather stations the ability to become accessible by the world. Palmy Weather is currently using CumulusMX v4.5.2 b4105. Information about this project can be found on the Cumulus forum: https://cumulus.hosiene.co.uk/.

The information for the dictionary was gathered from "National Weather Service". Check out their glossary at https://www.weather.gov/otx/Full_Weather_Glossary.

Information regarding the UV Index, how it works and how it affects New Zealanders was gathered from "SunSmart" New Zealand. Check out their website at http://www.sunsmart.org.nz/.

The information gathered for the about page was a summarised version About Palmerston North from Wikipedia. Check out the full artical at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palmerston_North.

The Pollen Calendar and allergy information has been sourced from Allergy New Zealand. The full calendar and more information on allergies can be found at http://www.allergy.org.nz.

The auto scaling Thermometer and Cloud Base graphics uses scripts generously provided by Saratoga Weather website. Check out their free scripts and weather website templates at http://saratoga-weather.org.

Free software provided by SoftRock Enterprises (FWI Calc) calculates our fire danger information providing graphs and other relevant information. Check out their website at http://www.wilddata.org.nz.

Finally thanks to Meteo Cercal for their great support and homebuilt weather station project, WeatherDuino Pro2 which is what Palmy Weather is powered by. Check out their website at www.meteocercal.info.

Bibliography (APA Referencing 5th Edition)

About Palmerston North. (2010). Retrieved June 20, 2010, from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palmerston_North

Air Quality Index Color Code Guide. (2017). Retrieved October 4, 2017, from United States Department of Agriculture: https://webcam.srs.fs.fed.us/test/AQI.shtml

Annual Pollen Calendar. (2006). Retrieved August 13, 2014, from Allergy New Zealand: http://www.allergy.org.nz/

Cumulus. (2010). Retrieved February 1, 2010, from Sandaysoft: http://sandaysoft.com/products/cumulus

Earth Wind Map. (2020). Retrieved February 22, 2020, from Cameron Beccario: https://earth.nullschool.net/

Full Moon Names and Their Meanings. (2012). Retrieved August 1, 2012, from Farmers' Almanac: http://www.farmersalmanac.com/full-moon-names/

FWI Calc. (2012). Retrieved February 1, 2012, from SoftRock Enterprises: http://www.wilddata.org.nz/fwicalc/index.php?page=9

Graphs of New Zealand. (2011, March 22). Retrieved March 22, 2011, from Maps and Radar : Weather Underground: http://www.wunderground.com/maps/au/Temperature.html

History for IMANAWAT7. (2010, June 20). Retrieved June 20, 2010, from Weather Station History : Weather Underground: https://www.wunderground.com/dashboard/pws/IMANAWAT7

Isobar Map for New Zealand. (2022, January 30). Retrieved January 30, 2022, from Metservice: https://www.metservice.com/dynamic/feeds/thumbnails/370x210_thumb_tasman_surface-pressure.jpg

Lightning Report for New Zealand. (2016, May 16). Retrieved May 16, 2016, from LightningMaps.org: https://www.lightningmaps.org/blitzortung/oceania/index.php?bo_showmap=new_zealand

Mountain web cam. (2010). Retrieved June 20, 2010, from Horizons Regional Council - Web cams : http://www.horizons.govt.nz/web-cams/

Palmerston North City Web Cam. (2010). Retrieved June 20, 2010, from Palmerston North City Council (PNCC) - Web cams : https://wc.pncc.govt.nz/image/image.jpg

Rain Radar. (2022, January 30). Retrieved January 30, 2022, from Metservice: https://www.metservice.com/dynamic/feeds/thumbnails/370x210_thumb_rain-radar-wellington.jpg

Sandaysoft . Index page. (2010). Retrieved June 20, 2010, from Sandaysoft Forum: http://sandaysoft.com/forum/

Saratoga Weather. (2013). Retrieved February 7, 2013, from Sandaysoft Forum: http:saratoga-weather.org

Satellite Map for New Zealand. (2010, June 20). Retrieved June 20, 2010, from TVNZ: http://images.tvnz.co.nz/weather/interweb/data/satellite.jpg

Satellite Map for New Zealand. (2022, January 30). Retrieved January 30, 2022, from Metservice: https://www.metservice.com/dynamic/feeds/thumbnails/370x210_thumb_tasman-sea-satellite.jpg

TEMIS UV Index. (2007, April 05). Retrieved June 20, 2010, from TEMIS: http://www.temis.nl/

UV index Sunsmart. (2010). Retrieved May 30, 2010, from SunSmart: http://www.sunsmart.org.nz/being-sunsmart/uv-index

Windy Maps. (2020). Retrieved February 22, 2020, from Windy.com: http://www.windy.com

Welcome to the Cumulus Wiki. (2010, Feburary 5). Retrieved June 20, 2010, from CumulusWiki: http://wiki.sandaysoft.com/a/Main_Page

"Palmy Weather" is intellectual property of its owner. This site, web pages, images and photos are © Copyright 2009 - 2026.

Please contact us if you would like to use any information, images, scripts from this website.

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