All information in this editorial is drawn from Pacific Meteorological Council reports from the Pacific Island countries mentioned in the article, and it adds no missing details.
WEATHER information is becoming part of everyday decisions across the Pacific: when ships travel, how health services prepare for malaria, and how communities plan for drought and coastal hazards.
The country report records new tools and stronger links, alongside priorities that still depend on people, infrastructure and coordination.
Solomon Islands
A forecast can shape the movement of people and goods across the islands. Fisheries and maritime transport use weather information to decide on loading and when to travel between provinces. The Ministry of Health uses it to plan malaria mitigation, while agriculture uses it for planning. For ship operators, the Solomon Islands Maritime Authority provides advisories.
The report lists formal partnerships with the Maritime Authority and the National Disability Forum among the service’s priorities. It also records that 80 per cent of observation systems share data with a common database, and that satellite information comes from Himawari and NOAA/ASCAT products.
Tonga
In Tonga, weather warnings are also tools for community awareness and planning. The National Disaster Risk Management Office uses warnings and outlooks covering cyclones, severe weather, tsunamis and climate conditions.
The report describes morning radio briefings in both English and Tongan, alongside telephone and television weather products.
Tuvalu
For Tuvalu’s outer islands, getting the warning through matters as much as producing it. The report says the country combines global meteorological networks with internet, email, HF radio and Chatty Beele to pass early warnings from international sources to local communities.
The service has completed a new meteorological building and upgraded internet connectivity, including Starlink and fibre-optic connections. It has also brought artificial intelligence into daily forecasting and severe-weather monitoring, and put an upgraded coastal inundation forecasting tool into operation.
New observing equipment has expanded the network: one Automated Weather Observing System, four automatic weather stations and three wave buoys. In the water sector, seasonal outlooks, drought outlooks and climate summaries support drought monitoring and declaration processes. The report’s next priority is continued investment in staff qualifications and technical skills.
Tokelau
Tokelau’s listed warnings cover coastal hazards, storms and swells, drought, and heavy rain or flooding. The services are intended for fisheries, water security, marine activities and public weather needs, with women in business also named among the priority audiences.
The priorities ahead are practical: deploy automatic weather stations, build staff capacity and strengthen the early warning system. The report also names a National Climate Outlook Forum as an achievement.
Vanuatu
Vanuatu relies on global meteorological networks and national channels including the internet and email to transfer data. The report points to connectivity as part of the wider task of sustaining operational services: strengthening people, systems, infrastructure and institutions, and linking national capability with regional and global partners.
Australia
The report frames Pacific leadership as more than a technical project. It calls for national and regional capability that can sustain services over time, and for bilateral, regional and multilateral investment to align with Pacific priorities and the Pacific Islands Meteorological Strategy.
A region-wide effort
The country snapshots describe weather services as part of daily life and public planning: marine advisories for ship operators, climate outlooks for drought decisions, and warnings delivered through radio, television and communication networks.
They also point to the work still ahead maintaining infrastructure, developing staff expertise and building partnerships that can keep services reliable.
