Early morning rain/thunderstorm in Christchurch area
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For today's weather discussion head to: New Zealand Weather & Climate
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Early morning rain/thunderstorm in Christchurch area
I woke up this morning (about 7AM) and looked out the window, noticing it was cloudy (high cloud) but dry. Then I turned on the radio and tuned to Newstalk ZB for the news and local weather forecast. I was surprised when the announcer reported that there was an electrical storm in Rangiora with spectular thunder and lightning, though it was easing. I had neither heard nor seen any sign of this. Then it started raining solidly in Chch, but I noticed no thunder or lightning. The rain is easing off as I write and skies are beginnning to clear.
Ben
Christchurch
Ben
Christchurch
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I was surprised to hear 3 or 4 static crashes on the radio at 6am while listening to Nation Radio news. The signal is strong so the lightning had to be close. It was quite dark out to the NW about 6:40am.
A few large spots of rain about 7am in Hillmorton and then more continuous rain about half way to work. It wasn't too heavy as I only got damp while cycling. 5.2mm in my rain gauge.
As Ben mentioned, a sunny day now.
A few large spots of rain about 7am in Hillmorton and then more continuous rain about half way to work. It wasn't too heavy as I only got damp while cycling. 5.2mm in my rain gauge.
As Ben mentioned, a sunny day now.
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It was just heavy rain with bursts of small hail out here, too.
I got another power supply from DSE this week so the lightning counter was running today There was a total of 49 pulses recorded between 5am and 7am so that could have been the storm at Rangiora.
Cheers
Steven
I got another power supply from DSE this week so the lightning counter was running today There was a total of 49 pulses recorded between 5am and 7am so that could have been the storm at Rangiora.
Cheers
Steven
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- NZstorm
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Interesting.
I looked at the weather this morning and noticed thunderstorm activity on a front moving off the Tasman Sea onto the lower North Island. Did not spot the convection over Canterbury. The Invercargill sounding at midnight indicated an unstable lapse rate though.
The post frontal freezing level at Invercargill today was 1300m, Auckland 3300m. No wonder it felt cold in the south.
The conflicting airmasses are likely to generate more thunderstorms in the next few days, mainly about the west of the SI.
I looked at the weather this morning and noticed thunderstorm activity on a front moving off the Tasman Sea onto the lower North Island. Did not spot the convection over Canterbury. The Invercargill sounding at midnight indicated an unstable lapse rate though.
The post frontal freezing level at Invercargill today was 1300m, Auckland 3300m. No wonder it felt cold in the south.
The conflicting airmasses are likely to generate more thunderstorms in the next few days, mainly about the west of the SI.
- TonyT
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I'm not to sure how to answer this.
It was cloudy this morning but I was unaware of any thunderstorm development.
I went off to bed last night and it was clear and quite mild. I recorded 15C at 11pm last night, up from the 12C coolness of the mod to fresh NE or ENE that was blowing yesterday. The thermometer dipped to 4C overnight and was up to 13.8C by 7:30am just before it came onto rain. I recorded 5mm with the rainfall until the clearance just after 9am. The barometer had dropped right down to 985hpa before this so it was obvious a bit of a convergence developed with the southerly airflow and the impeding westerly aloft. I did notice a WEE bit of glaciation throught the back of the cloud as it drifted away to the east at 9am as well.
This was a scenario similar to last Friday when a hail shower fell here at 5:40am.
JohnGaul
NZTS
It was cloudy this morning but I was unaware of any thunderstorm development.
I went off to bed last night and it was clear and quite mild. I recorded 15C at 11pm last night, up from the 12C coolness of the mod to fresh NE or ENE that was blowing yesterday. The thermometer dipped to 4C overnight and was up to 13.8C by 7:30am just before it came onto rain. I recorded 5mm with the rainfall until the clearance just after 9am. The barometer had dropped right down to 985hpa before this so it was obvious a bit of a convergence developed with the southerly airflow and the impeding westerly aloft. I did notice a WEE bit of glaciation throught the back of the cloud as it drifted away to the east at 9am as well.
This was a scenario similar to last Friday when a hail shower fell here at 5:40am.
JohnGaul
NZTS