Regional Training Workshop on PICASO for Advancing Seasonal Climate Services in the Pacific

25 March 2026, Nuku’alofa – The Kingdom of Tonga will host the eighth sitting of the Pacific Meteorological Council Meeting (PMC-8) and the fourth convening of the Pacific Ministerial Meeting on Meteorology (PMMM-4) from 21 – 25 September this year. This was confirmed by the Cabinet of Ministers decision on the 6th March 2026.

23 March, 2026 – Today Niue marked World Meteorological Day with the official launch of the Vagahau Niue translated booklet series titled, ‘COPE: Be ready for disasters!’ The series aims to support national efforts to strengthen weather and climate services and information through community engagement.

23 March 2026, Apia - The Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP), through the Climate and Oceans Support Program in the Pacific (COSPPac), recently hosted a two-day training for three staff members from the Tokelau National Meteorological and Hydrological Service (NMHS), aimed at improving their national climate services.

Every morning for six months, Viva Malia Veikoso would prepare herself and walk to the Fiji Meteorological Service office in Namaka, Nadi. She was four months pregnant when the Basic Instructor for Public Weather Services Training began in May 2025, Viva faced a reality that would have deterred many: intensive technical training, monthly exams requiring 70% pass rates, assignments, projects, and the physical demands of pregnancy, all while thousands of miles from her young children and family in Tonga.

Apia, Samoa - In a landmark moment for Pacific climate resilience, the Pacific Leaders Weather Ready Pacific (WRP) Programme being implemented by SPREP has launched its Gender Equality, Disability and Social Inclusion (GEDSI) Strategy 2025–2033.

The new strategy, launched on Friday 13 March 2026, is a comprehensive framework designed to ensure that early warning systems, weather forecasts, and disaster preparedness services reach every person across the Pacific, especially the most vulnerable.

Kiribati and Samoa are set to receive 20 new SOFAR Smart Mooring buoys, with 10 destined for Kiribati and 10 for Samoa, to strengthen real-time ocean and climate information for communities and decision-makers across both countries. The deployment is funded through the European Union-funded Climate Services and Related Applications (ClimSA Pacific) programme, implemented by SPREP in partnership with Kiribati Meteorological Services and Samoa Meteorological Services.

NUKU'ALOFA, TONGA — When visitors fly into Tonga's azure waters for whale watching in Vava'u, island-hopping across Ha'apai or diving the reefs of 'Eua, they rely on aviation systems that depend on accurate, certified weather information. Now, the Tonga Meteorological Service (TMS) is investing in the people and systems that keep those services and the economy running safely.