8 May 2026, Rarotonga, Cook Islands - Marking a new era in the history of Cook Islands Meteorology, the national Service launched its Upper-Air Sounding Station as part of its Weather Observation Programme. This will provide essential atmospheric data that enhances weather forecasting, improves early warnings for severe weather, supports aviation safety and contributes to climate monitoring at national, regional and global levels.
“This is a milestone for our country, not only in terms of infrastructure, but in our continuing journey to strengthen climate resilience, scientific capability and early warning systems for the Cook Islands and the wider Pacific region,” said Hon. Albert Nicholas, Deputy Prime Minister of the Cook Islands as he launched the new building and programme.
“As we all know the Cook Islands is on the frontline of climate change, extreme weather events, changing rainfall patterns and increasing climate variability that poses real and ongoing risks to our people, our environment and our economy. In this context access to accurate, timely and high quality meteorological and climate data is absolutely critical.”
Partnerships for Cook Islands and Pacific resilience was on demonstration today. The Upper-Air Sounding Station was funded through the Enhancing Climate Information and Knowledge Services for Resilience in five Island Countries of the Pacific Ocean Project (CIS-Pac5) funded by the Green Climate Fund, implemented by UNEP and executed by the Governments of Cook Islands, Palau, Republic of the Marshall Islands and Tuvalu.
The installation of the equipment and capacity building of the CIMS staff to carry out the Upper Air Weather Observation Programme was supported by MetService New Zealand.
“This is important for the resilience of the Cook Islands but it also feeds into the global models for numerical weather protection. It represents a shift from the Cook Islands as being a recipient of data to a provider of climate data and information,” said Mr Jochem Zoetelief Head, Climate Early Warning and Capacity Building Unit, UNEP.
“I think everyone in the Cook Islands should be very proud of this because it sends an important message to the world about the commitment of the Pacific region and the importance of investing in data and knowledge services.”
Special mention was made by the former, and current Directors of the Cook Islands Meteorological Service at the launch of the commitment and hard work of the staff of the Cook Islands Meteorological Service – a twenty-four hour, seven days a week – service that strives to ensure the safety of the Cook Islands people.
This, and the achievement by the Cook Islands through the support of partners, was echoed by the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP), home of the Climate Services Information Programme and the Pacific Meteorological Desk and Partnership.
“We commend the Cook Islands Meteorological Service for their bold step forward for a resilient Cook Islands, and Pacific,” said Mr Jope Davetanivalu, Director of Environmental Governance of SPREP.
“We all know the importance of data in helping to make informed decisions – this launch and work of the Cook Islands Meteorological Service with gathering this upper-air data is significant. Congratulations Cook Islands and your partners in making this happen; this will bring us closer to a resilient Cook Islands and Pacific. We look forward to our continued relationship with you on this journey.”
The launch of the Upper-Air Sounding Station was held at the Cook Islands Meteorological Service on 8 May 2026.It was funded through the Enhancing Climate Information and Knowledge Services for Resilience in five Island Countries of the Pacific Ocean Project (CIS-Pac5) funded by the Green Climate Fund, implemented by UNEP and executed by the Governments of Cook Islands, Palau, Republic of the Marshall Islands and Tuvalu. The installation of the equipment and capacity building of the CIMS staff to carry out the Upper Air Weather Observation Programme was supported by MetService New Zealand.