General May Weather

[Razor]

Some half hearted but photogenic convection aloft around Chch right for lunch

[Razor]

Apparently that cell delivered hail to the east of town. Heres the next cell, more promising

[tich]

Just a few brief spits in central Chch, but yes, reports of hail in some other parts of city.

[NZ Thunderstorm Soc]

Hadda brief hail shower (the wintry stuff) just before 2pm, here, of a cell similar to the one above just before 2pm.
One or 2 'coldies' observed off-shore when we drove to Temuka this afternoon.

[NZstorm]

Saw a flash/rumble while out for a run this evening otherwise uneventful weather day here.

The set up tomorrow night looks favourable for storms in the Auckland area.

[TonyT]

This was how the mid afternoon hail shower over Christchurch developed as it moved into Pegasus Bay later in the afternoon. About half an hour after these pictures were taken at Amberley Beach I got some small mushy hail and also some proper round hailstones as the land based part of the storm picked up some oomph.

[NZ Thunderstorm Soc]

I hope MS forecast for the Canterbury Plains is wrong for tomorrow

[Chris W]

Some epic views of cb developments offshore from Kaikoura today, didn’t get a photo of the best but have added one below, and still some development ongoing. Strong southerly and it’s chilly here.

CEBCAC35-2475-4862-9EBE-07D1930EFE54.jpeg

[Richard]

I hope MS forecast for the Canterbury Plains is wrong for tomorrow

Why is that John too boring?

Nice photos Tony

[KiwiWeather]

Hail and thunder here, but I haven't seen any lightning.

[spwill]

Noisy hail here just now but brief.

[NZstorm]

Heavy hail here. Have heard distant thunder.

[spwill]

Just had some lightning/ thunder here, a couple of flashes with brief heavy rain and more small hail.

[NZ Thunderstorm Soc]

I hope MS forecast for the Canterbury Plains is wrong for tomorrow

Why is that John too boring?

Yes.

[snowykiwi]

Very strong winds hitting the Rakaia and Hatfield area.

[NZstorm]

Some light snow around Queenstown on webcam. Coronet should get a good fall today.

[Cyclone Tracy]

Thunder and plenty of hail here last night, a nice little finish for system 2. I’ve had 57mm in the last 5 days now.

System 3 incoming and looking quite robust.... Not all models are entirely aligned on this one, with subtle differences on the 2 low level circulation centres tomorrow which will effect rainfall and wind locations across both Islands. There might be a little more moisture on the east side of the SI tomorrow if that low moves west a touch. The 540 thickness line on system 3 is projected to reach between 31 and 32 degrees south of the equator on Saturday morning….. Not a bad effort for May

[SnwAddct]

Nice coating of snow on the Southern Lakes fields today, I would say there's a good chance that will be the base for the season down there. Ruapehu is even looking quite good for this time of the year with another huge pulse of snow between 6pm tonight and 6am tomorrow, will it stick around though is the question for that fickle beast.

[spwill]

The Otago Ski fields are looking good. Interesting to see the snow at Queenstown Airport this morning.
More hail and thunder here tomorrow.


Nice photos Tony.

[Cyclone Tracy]

One to keep an eye on for Sunday afternoon, night. GFS & Icon latest runs 18z locking onto system 4 consumed by system 3 in a fujiwhara effect, producing a southerly flow, with a solid polar injection at 500 hPa over upper eastern parts of SI and south east NI. That will be a decent cold shot into these areas if that verifies. If moisture is available, snow to 400 to 500m I would think.

[Thunder081]

Wow wouldja look at that

wind 2.18pm 24-5-18.PNG

[Cyclone Tracy]

MS forecast a top of 8c for Queenstown today, only got to 3.8c. Coldest max since the 2015 winter according to NIWA


edit: isolated CG and CC's being detected in Cook strait.

[NZstorm]

MS forecast a top of 8c for Queenstown today, only got to 3.8c. Coldest max since the 2015 winter according to NIWA

I see Invercargill only got to 7C with precip all day.


The front over the west of the North Island tomorrow morning should be a good lightning producer. Reaches Auckland after daybreak.

[harleyb]

A superb lightning show in the Horowhenua region early this evening & some minor debris on the road. Even at open road speed we couldn't keep up with the action as it continued N and pulled away from us, things must really have been moving aloft.

[Thunder081]

Had another good chase in the Horowhenua, watched the lightning storm approach me on Waikawa Beach road there was plenty of forked lightning. Then it went right over me there was hail and the wind immediately went up gusting to about 60 kph and loud thunder. Then I went back onto state highway 1 to try and stay inside the storm but when I got to a passing lane to overtake the car in front of me they bloody pulled into the overtaking lane blocking me!! what a bloody safety nazi!! I could not catch up with it, if I was going 100 I definitely would've been inside the middle of it until Levin at least.

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