Nev wrote:
NIWA's then Principal Climate Scientist, Dr James Renwick appears to contradict what's on their website when asked, is Auckland and Northland subtropical?…
Northland is not quite subtropical. Winter is too much like winter. But wait another 50 years and we might be in business.
The limiting factor for Auckland being a sub tropical climate according to Köppen climate classification is the low Summer temperature mean rather than Winter temps.
Auckland Winter temperatures allow sub tropical plants to survive particularly in coastal areas.
Nev wrote:
NIWA's then Principal Climate Scientist, Dr James Renwick appears to contradict what's on their website when asked, is Auckland and Northland subtropical?…
"Northland is not quite subtropical. Winter is too much like winter. But wait another 50 years and we might be in business."
The limiting factor for Auckland being a sub tropical climate according to Köppen climate classification is the low Summer temperature mean rather than Winter temps.
Auckland Winter temperatures allow sub tropical plants to survive particularly in coastal areas.
Yes, I think if I lived in Northland in winter I wouldn't be thinking that it's "much like winter". Their winter is what in the UK I would expect in mid-late spring, just without the long daylight hours.
On the otherhand, there can be a bit of a chill to SW'erly in summertime if it's more than just a sea breeze and that doesn't make it feel all that subtropical.
The problem with NZ winters is that the milder zones feature far too much cloud and rain, and the sunniest or driest parts pay with frosts. Small wonder Australian escapes are popular.
RWood wrote:The problem with NZ winters is that the milder zones feature far too much cloud and rain, and the sunniest or driest parts pay with frosts. Small wonder Australian escapes are popular.
You need to go well north of NZ, even the Gold Coast is not warm enough if you are after a warm sunny weather holiday. SE Queensland comes good late September.
Coastal Bay of Plenty would be the best we have in NZ , where sunshine meets warmer temperature.
RWood wrote:The problem with NZ winters is that the milder zones feature far too much cloud and rain, and the sunniest or driest parts pay with frosts. Small wonder Australian escapes are popular.
You need to go well north of NZ, even the Gold Coast is not warm enough if you are after a warm sunny weather holiday. SE Queensland comes good late September.
Coastal Bay of Plenty would be the best we have in NZ , where sunshine meets warmer temperature.
A cloudy 16C in the Gold Coast yesterday. I don't really understand the wintertime Gold Coast beach holiday idea. It's a bit of a risk, if you're booking ahead of time.
By late August the Sunshine Coast is normally very sunny and fairly warm. The event here in Townsville with 30 hours of rain and the coldest July day on record with 15C tmax - all months record is for a 13.9 June day - shows the gap between this climate and mild-temperate Auckland. Normal today in the equal 2nd sunniest major town in Australia. Our travel record in Aus has been overwhelmingly positive overall weather wise.
it is bad luck to hit rain, wind and cool temps up in Townsville this time of year at latitude 19 degrees. North Qld is a well known good holiday climate this time of year. Summer might be unpleasant though. Some people say Auckland Summers are uncomfortable due to humidity but it is nothing compared to coastal Queensland.
Showers or rain for much of coastal Qld next few days for Kiwis on their school holidays
Motel owner is English and says comfort levels are OK even in summer. Met another Ex UK person here for 40 years and more than happy to be here all year round. Have to test for one's self I guess.
RWood wrote:Motel owner is English and says comfort levels are OK even in summer. Met another Ex UK person here for 40 years and more than happy to be here all year round. Have to test for one's self I guess.
I don't need to go there ( Townsville) to know Summers will be uncomfortable, the average Summer temperature range is min 24C - 31C max with a dewpoint over 20C each day.
RWood wrote:Motel owner is English and says comfort levels are OK even in summer. Met another Ex UK person here for 40 years and more than happy to be here all year round. Have to test for one's self I guess.
I don't need to go there ( Townsville) to know Summers will be uncomfortable, the average Summer temperature range is min 24C - 31C max with a dewpoint over 20C each day.
If I could afford two well-appointed properties I would occupy one in a drier summer Australian climate like that of Perth for about Nov-April and a tropical one like this for the rest of the year. That would meet my criteria of getting a lot of sunshine and not much rain. Just need a Powerball.
RWood wrote:The problem with NZ winters is that the milder zones feature far too much cloud and rain, and the sunniest or driest parts pay with frosts. Small wonder Australian escapes are popular.
You need to go well north of NZ, even the Gold Coast is not warm enough if you are after a warm sunny weather holiday. SE Queensland comes good late September.
Coastal Bay of Plenty would be the best we have in NZ , where sunshine meets warmer temperature.
On an all-year basis I would put Napier at least equal with Whakatane given that its annual sunshine is not much less, rainfall considerably lower and Tmaxs competitive.
Also, with regard to the Sunshine Coast, I went there on a week long polytech field trip in June-July 2005 and the weather was cloudy with rain on and off with temps in the high teens, mind you this was at a time when there was a nasty storm that flooded the Gold Coast.
wembley wrote:Also, with regard to the Sunshine Coast, I went there on a week long polytech field trip in June-July 2005 and the weather was cloudy with rain on and off with temps in the high teens, mind you this was at a time when there was a nasty storm that flooded the Gold Coast.
From Cairns/Port Douglas down to at least as far as Brisbane long term stats. show a better "winter" time to go is late August-early September - longer days, highest % sun monthly, lowest or nearest lowest monthly rainfalls. However in the more southern parts there is more vulnerability to occasional wet spells. After a holiday break in early Sept 2014 in P Douglas I noted that cloudy days in the whole period August - mid November were extremely infrequent that time.
