Weather Service trains cadets to boost weather forecasting team

By MICHAEL LAI
National Weather Service (NWS) cadets began 10 weeks of training in Port Moresby on Monday.
The 36 cadets, from different science and social science backgrounds, will be trained to become meteorologists.
NWS director Samuel Maiha said eight cadets were females and 28 males. A meteorologist is a weather forecaster.
“In this competitive age, National Weather Service staff need to step up from being just mere observers and forecasters of weather and climate, to a breed of workers who add value to the people’s lives,” Maiha said. “Our work must add value to important socio-economic sectors including agriculture and food security, marine and fisheries, water and energy, transport and infrastructure, health and other industries who need weather information.
“We will not only keep records and data of rainfall and temperature, but will use them to manage sectors in this age of climate variability and change.”
Maiha said in this time of climate change, there might be new pests that had the potential to destroy both food and cash crops.
“Therefore, weather stations need to be set up and climatologists must collaborate with agriculture to manage the potential threats,” he said. “Such applies to other sectors as well.” Maiha said that after training the cadets would work with NWS for three years. “Some of them will be attached for a couple of months in Port Moresby before they are sent to other stations, including Kavieng, Daru, Wewak, Buka, Rabaul, Hoskins, Vanimo, Madang and Nadzab in Lae,” he said.