General November Weather

[NZstorm]

October and November tend to be the worst performing months of the year for Auckland due to the southwesterlies.

[RichyDunedin]

Generally just a much crappier November here, wetter and colder than usual. And this is Dunedin we're talking about haha.

[cantygal]

Generally just a much crappier November here, wetter and colder than usual. And this is Dunedin we're talking about haha.

I heard you guys were doing it tough Richy and I remember a few cold springs in the 70s/80s down that way when I was there.
Hopefully it warms up for you soon!

[spwill]

The November pattern very much favoured areas east of high ground( north of Dunedin) although I don't think the Auckland numbers ended up too bad.

[RWood]

A very stormy and cool November. Very dry in eastern areas, while very wet in western areas. Above average sunshine for most areas, but well below in others.

Nov 2014 Climate Anomaly Map ℅ NIWA.gif

Some very preliminary November 2014 temp and rainfall figures for the main centres:

Code: Select all

Nov 2014 Average Temps, Rainfall and departures from their 1981-2010 normals ℅ NIWA

Site                      T-max °C       T-min °C       T-mean °C    Rainfall mm

Auckland, Mangere        19.5  +0.1     12.5  -0.3     16.0  -0.1      47   72% 
Auckland Aero            19.0  -0.5     12.1  -0.7     15.5  -0.7      59   82% 
Tauranga Aero            20.5  +0.4     11.0  -0.7     15.8  -0.1      35   47%
Hamilton Aero            18.5  -1.4      8.6  -0.9     13.5  -1.2      82   92% 
Hamilton, Ruakura        19.2  -0.7      9.3  -0.6     14.2  -0.7      85  102% 
Wellington, Kelburn      16.8  +0.3     10.3   0.0     13.6  +0.2      51   52% 
Christchurch Aero        20.0  +1.1      7.0  -1.0     13.5   0.0      48  103% 
Dunedin, Musselburgh     15.6  -0.5      7.3  -1.3     11.5  -0.9      74  131%

Note that Greymouth Aero recorded 294mm for Nov (149% of normal), although sunshine was slightly above normal, if not considerably cooler. In contrast, places like Nelson Aero only recorded 12mm and both Napier Aero and Gisborne Aero only managed 17mm.

The Greymouth sun "surplus" would be due to using the new EWS values against old means for the manual site. It records about 300 years per annum more than the still open manual site, and I guarantee the latter will report a deficit for November. The same applies for Hokitika EWS.

As I predicted Kelburn temperatures were near normal. Sunshine was again well above normal here, and the spring surplus of about 100 hours will put it somewhere from 3rd to 5th highest in 87 years of recordings, or indeed 108 years if older sites are included in the comparison.

[RWood]

Generally just a much crappier November here, wetter and colder than usual. And this is Dunedin we're talking about haha.

Invercargill will show worse ....

[Flutterbye]

Generally just a much crappier November here, wetter and colder than usual. And this is Dunedin we're talking about haha.

Invercargill will show worse ....

Definitely been a wet month but still plenty of growth with the heat in the sun....when it does shine.

[NZstorm]

I notice BOM are saying Australia has had its hottest spring on record, beating the record set in 2013!

A hotter Australia will definitely have impacts on NZ's weather. The most obvious impact would be higher rainfall in the west. But that is indulging in another topic.

[RichyDunedin]

I've got distant memories of what the sun looks like. Moving from Cairns to Dunedin is hardly an ideal change of climate haha.

Where in mainland NZ has the lowest sunshine hours? I'm thinking somewhere in Southland or Fiordland? I see the Auckland Islands get over 300 days of rain and less than 700 sunshine hours. Brutal, probably blowing a gale then too.

[RWood]

I've got distant memories of what the sun looks like. Moving from Cairns to Dunedin is hardly an ideal change of climate haha.

Where in mainland NZ has the lowest sunshine hours? I'm thinking somewhere in Southland or Fiordland? I see the Auckland Islands get over 300 days of rain and less than 700 sunshine hours. Brutal, probably blowing a gale then too.

The 1981-2010 averages for NZ locations span a period when conversions to electronic measurement make it tricky to assess. For both Invercargill (manual) and Dunedin (mixed) the value quoted is 1680 hours. However I regard the In'gill manual records post the early 1990s as somewhat doubtful (too high) when compared to older records - an EWS installed there records lower values than the manual equipment, which is definitely not normal. On the other hand, the later records at Dunedin (manual period) look too low.

For older periods prior to 1990 Dunedin was definitely ahead of Invercargill. Readings for mountainous and rainforest areas are not generally available.

Cairns has been very dry this spring and has had large sun surpluses in all 3 months.

Campbell Island averaged only 640 hours in a record spanning over 50 years, once getting as little as 479 hours in a year (1992).

[Manukau heads obs]

still plenty of growth

the regular showers of rain and not any hot weather periods has meant lots of grass growth in this area
(and has meant it has maintained quality for longer too)
A good summer is what Dairy Farmers need with the big drop in pay out
but the constant wind will dry things out quickly

[Manukau heads obs]

ps, interesting that OZ had recorded its warmest spring on record (El nino makes OZ hotter)
I see they are predicting it will be the worlds hottest year on record..finally beating the previous one set in 1998 or so...that will make deniers take another look..if it comes true..and those who say the world has stopped warming will need to have another look

[RWood]

November summary due on NIWA website - but the October summary doesn't have the stats link yet!

[Nev]

November summary due on NIWA website - but the October summary doesn't have the stats link yet!

Stats for October out now.

[Nev]

Here's NIWA's preliminary, 'November 2014 National Climate Summary'.

A cool month for most of the country.


The national average temp of 13.4C was 0.3C below normal.

The month's highest temp of 31.1C was again recorded at Riccarton, Christchurch on the 22nd, and the lowest of -3.4C was, for the 4th consecutive month, recorded at Middlemarch on the 11th.

[RichyDunedin]

I've got distant memories of what the sun looks like. Moving from Cairns to Dunedin is hardly an ideal change of climate haha.

Where in mainland NZ has the lowest sunshine hours? I'm thinking somewhere in Southland or Fiordland? I see the Auckland Islands get over 300 days of rain and less than 700 sunshine hours. Brutal, probably blowing a gale then too.

The 1981-2010 averages for NZ locations span a period when conversions to electronic measurement make it tricky to assess. For both Invercargill (manual) and Dunedin (mixed) the value quoted is 1680 hours. However I regard the In'gill manual records post the early 1990s as somewhat doubtful (too high) when compared to older records - an EWS installed there records lower values than the manual equipment, which is definitely not normal. On the other hand, the later records at Dunedin (manual period) look too low.

For older periods prior to 1990 Dunedin was definitely ahead of Invercargill. Readings for mountainous and rainforest areas are not generally available.

Cairns has been very dry this spring and has had large sun surpluses in all 3 months.

Campbell Island averaged only 640 hours in a record spanning over 50 years, once getting as little as 479 hours in a year (1992).

You're a wealth of knowledge RWood, good stuff! Yea certainly a delayed wet up in FNQ. Hopefully be a decent summer.

[tich]

I thought that November would've been more than the 0.3C below normal nationally, especially since NIWA stressed that it was a cool month.

[RWood]

I thought that November would've been more than the 0.3C below normal nationally, especially since NIWA stressed that it was a cool month.

It might be that case that the 11SS (as opposed to the 7SS) would show a larger deficit - but I think a couple of the 11SS sites are offshore! In this particular month the areas with the biggest deficits would not be well represented in the 7SS, either.

[Nev]

I thought that November would've been more than the 0.3C below normal nationally, especially since NIWA stressed that it was a cool month.

It might be that case that the 11SS (as opposed to the 7SS) would show a larger deficit - but I think a couple of the 11SS sites are offshore! In this particular month the areas with the biggest deficits would not be well represented in the 7SS, either.

Agree that the 11 station series (Raoul Is. and Campbell Is. notwithstanding) might better represent the country as a whole.

However, re the 7 station series, NIWA's Masterton CWS (Compact Weather Station) T-mean of 14.9C (or 1.3C above its 1971-2000 normal) looks a little suspect compared to Masterton Aero's T-mean of just 13.6C.

Interestingly, Jim Hickey said last night that 'the month overall was about 1 degree cooler than normal', which might be closer to the mark?

[spwill]

I think Auckland has already reached its annual average sunshine by the end of November, a quick look shows over 2000hrs.

[RWood]

It might be that case that the 11SS (as opposed to the 7SS) would show a larger deficit - but I think a couple of the 11SS sites are offshore! In this particular month the areas with the biggest deficits would not be well represented in the 7SS, either.

Agree that the 11 station series (Raoul Is. and Campbell Is. notwithstanding) might better represent the country as a whole.

However, re the 7 station series, NIWA's Masterton CWS (Compact Weather Station) T-mean of 14.9C (or 1.3C above its 1971-2000 normal) looks a little suspect compared to Masterton Aero's T-mean of just 13.6C.

Interestingly, Jim Hickey said last night that 'the month overall was about 1 degree cooler than normal', which might be closer to the mark?

I presume the Masterton CWS is a successor of instruments located in the same area, or very close to it (Waingawa had a long record).

[Nev]

... re the 7 station series, NIWA's Masterton CWS (Compact Weather Station) T-mean of 14.9C (or 1.3C above its 1971-2000 normal) looks a little suspect compared to Masterton Aero's T-mean of just 13.6C.

I presume the Masterton CWS is a successor of instruments located in the same area, or very close to it (Waingawa had a long record).

Hmm… it would appear NIWA use Martinborough as their current 'Masterton' site in their 7 station series.

I assumed, perhaps incorrectly, that because NIWA in their summary referred its Te Ore Ore CWS site simply as 'Masterton' that it was a successor to Waingawa. However, Te Ore Ore is about 8.4 km ENE of Waingawa and (incl. previous manual readings) doesn't appear to have the most reliable history.

MS's current Masterton Aero AWS is only about 2.3 km ENE of Waingawa, and its former East Taratahi sites (manual and AWS) are about 4.1 km to the SSE, so I'd imagine they might be better successors to Waingawa.