Wet southerly in the South Island

tich · Unread post by **tich** » Wed 27/08/2003 22:41

Started raining (lightly) this evening in Chch, and now the southerly has picked up a bit and the barometer has risen. Not very cold though - about 9C. I don't whether this is the wet southerly weather (that was due to hit us tomorrow) coming early, or simply the trough/low moving over with low-level undercutting southerlies over Canterbury.

Ben
Christchurch

NZ Thunderstorm Soc · Wed 27/08/2003 23:07

Ben,
I notice that the 9pm Rakaia radar shows good rainfall on and offshore in South Canterbury. Whether this will come north and deliver. Shallow troughs like this have develeped good rainfalls for Canterbury, with some surprises!

JohnGaul
NZTS

Thunder · Unread post by **Thunder** » Thu 28/08/2003 00:08

Hi John and Ben

I looked at the radar reading John and saw that purple splog/dot in South Canterbury and it looks good (I hope so!). Now 12:09 pm and quite windy here in Southshore, there is a hint of rain but not much. Mayby that "surprising" you speak of John will produces some goods, here's hoping!

Cheers
Aaron Wilkinson

tich · Unread post by **tich** » Thu 28/08/2003 11:52

No rain this morning in Chch, though the skies have an unstable look about them, and there's a chilly southerly breeze. MetService says we're still expecting occasional showers from this airflow, both today and tomorrow, but not the persistent rain that was originaly predicted for today.

tich · Unread post by **tich** » Thu 28/08/2003 15:18

Surprisingly it has been sunny so far this afternoon in Chch, though clouds are returning. I thought the cloud this morning would evolve into shower activity. Scattered showers are still forecast for both today and tomorrow, but it seems they have scattered themselves some distance from Chch at present. But things can easily change.

Michael · Unread post by **Michael** » Thu 28/08/2003 15:52

WE WILL GET IT ALL UP HERE AS PER USUAL

tich wrote:Surprisingly it has been sunny so far this afternoon in Chch, though clouds are returning. I thought the cloud this morning would evolve into shower activity. Scattered showers are still forecast for both today and tomorrow, but it seems they have scattered themselves some distance from Chch at present. But things can easily change.

Achten · Unread post by **Achten** » Thu 28/08/2003 20:22

Thunder in the Hawkes Bay this afternoon, some very heavy showers 10mm in 30 minutes. Some quite impressive cb's popped up, shame I was working and unable to get any pics. Always happens. You can see the cbs on the landcare research site. Flooding will no doubt occur in some places after last weekends rain event 100mm plus recorded in alot of areas. 480mm in some of the catchment areas in the ranges. Saturated ground now with lots of run off.

The pic I have included was taken on the 18/8, 4.30pm Sou westerly flow over the country

NZ Thunderstorm Soc · Thu 28/08/2003 21:02

It looks as though Hawkes Bay copped it as far as thunderstorms go with this shallow trough go, nothing much elsewhere.
Looks pretty unstable up and down the country, however .. but weak

JohnGaul
NZTS

tich · Unread post by **tich** » Thu 28/08/2003 21:27

Thunder in the Hawkes Bay this afternoon, some very heavy showers 10mm in 30 minutes.

TV1 weather reported a 'big hailstorm in the Kawekas'. (I think those were the words) A think coating of hail can look spectacular, even though it's more localised than most snow dumps. BTW is there still much snow cover on the Hawkes Bay mountains left over from early July's icy blast?

A light shower in Chch as I write - so MetService didn't get it all wrong in their forecast for Canterbury. I notice some bright blobs in inland South Canterbury on the 6PM radar.[/quote]

tich · Unread post by **tich** » Fri 29/08/2003 20:25

Cloudy today in Chch with the odd spit of rain from later in morning and a chilly southerly. My parents tell me that it's been raining through much of the day out on Banks Peninsula. Cold, but no mention of snow on the hills. (tops probably obscured by cloud) By the look of the cloud, I was guessing a warm front was coming, but temperatures haven't risen. Now showery this evening - hope it clears up by tomorrow.

Thunder · Unread post by **Thunder** » Fri 29/08/2003 21:52

Just been looking at metvuw.com and noticed that the 9:00pm readings (radar) have a small purple spec/splodge over Chch, the temp is lowest in Chch with it being 8 in Dunedin, 7.3 in Timaru, 6.6 in Chch then it rises back up to 7.9 in Kiakora and 8.9 in Blenhim. Has anyone experienced anything? I haven't here in Southshore although it is raining

Cheers
Aaron Wilkinson

tich · Unread post by **tich** » Fri 29/08/2003 22:39

Just been looking at metvuw.com and noticed that the 9:00pm readings (radar) have a small purple spec/splodge over Chch, the temp is lowest in Chch with it being 8 in Dunedin, 7.3 in Timaru, 6.6 in Chch then it rises back up to 7.9 in Kiakora and 8.9 in Blenhim. Has anyone experienced anything? I haven't here in Southshore although it is raining

Just rain in central Chch as well - I haven't noticed any thunder or hail yet. About 6.5C on my outdoor thermometer. (similar temperature at Jeff's online Hillmorton station)

tich · Unread post by **tich** » Fri 29/08/2003 22:50

Just been looking at metvuw.com and noticed that the 9:00pm readings (radar) have a small purple spec/splodge over Chch

I've just had a look at that radar reading - Lyttleton and the upper harbour must've been getting a real dumping. Purple must mean hail (or a very heavy downpour). Quite possibly thunder and lightning as well, though you'd probably notice it if you're in Southshore and looking south.

NZ Thunderstorm Soc · Fri 29/08/2003 23:31

Yeah, I noticed the purple blob as well.
there has been some interesting readings off the Rakaia Radar over the past few days without much significance in rainfall readings here.

I hope it is working OK

JohnGaul
NZTS

Thunder · Unread post by **Thunder** » Fri 29/08/2003 23:57

Now thats an idea John. It is still raining here in Southshore 11:55pm. No Scefrix on radio at all so doubt any electrical activity. Most likely heavyish rain, perhaps some hail is what the radar picked up?...

Cheers
Aaron Wilkinson

tich · Unread post by **tich** » Sat 30/08/2003 11:36

It's supposed to be clearing up in Chch, but it's not doing so yet. This is not the first time in recent weeks the weather here has been extremely undpredictable. This week 2 days of forecast rain never eventuated, until last night (in the city), and now when it's predicted to clear, the showers hang on. I think I've found the culprit - on MetService's 9AM map, there's a niggly little low pressure system to the east. Weak looking, but not moving - and continuing to push these annoying showers back onto Canterbury.

Thunder · Unread post by **Thunder** » Sat 30/08/2003 14:00

I woke up at 3:00am to the sound of rain on the roof, reasonably heavy but not like those convergence falls we had earlier in the year.

Yes Ben, I see that low. Cloud still about, lots of Cu with I think one going to a small Cb, I took a photo, I'll make an assesment at a later date. I saw a good rain shower travelling up the coast northwards under a darky grey cloud. At the moment here in Southshore it's actually sunny with it going a bit dull at times as Cu passes overhead.

Cheers
Aaron Wilkinson

tich · Unread post by **tich** » Sat 30/08/2003 21:42

The shower activity seems to have died out over the Christchurch area by about midafternoon. I was at Amberley around midday/early afternoon, and I could see scattered showers all around, including inland, but areas of blue sky had increased from the south by afternoon.
BTW, quite a big surf at Amberley beach - must be as a result of that low to the northeast of the North Island.