A rain radar for Otago is still not on the agenda of the MetService.
Rain radars provide up to 90 minutes of notice of severe thunderstorms and detect pockets of heavy rain.
The closest rain radars to Otago are in Invercargill and another in Rakaia, in Canterbury.
In 2008, the MetService indicated it would look at applying to the Government for funding for a radar in Otago, but communications general manager Jacqui Bridges said this week ieconomic times were tough and a radar cost about $3 million.
''We'd love to have one.''
The lack of a radar in the region meant forecasters had less comprehensive information about approaching rain than they did in other regions.
Radars on either side of the region provided some information for it ''higher up'' but did not provide the ''ground level'' information.
The MetService had just funded a high resolution satellite receiver which came on line this week and is now available to forecasters. It would improve the information used to predict the weather across the whole country, she said.
''It's a half-million-dollar investment by MetService.''
