Sunshine and lollipops!!!

[gopolks]

Well just sunshine for the the first in ages here in chch.

[carrot]

I must admit I am looking foward to more!

[NZ Thunderstorm Soc]

Like today, Wednesday the 20th of August was a, and I quote from the late Augie Auer, "A Blue Dome day"
I think tomorrow is Daffodil Day so that's why I changed the topic title

JohnGaul
NZTS

[carrot]

Too bad I heard the Cancer Society people would be some suppling some plastic daffodils because the weather hindered growth

[Storm Struck]

Blue sky indeed it was today with plenty of sunshine to go around, dont know about the lolipops though bit old for that maybe an ice cold beer .
Many joggers out today too couldnt help but miss the pearly whites .
As i said yesterday temperatures may feel more spring like next week with the NW flow and high pressure ridge dominating.
Cheers
Jason.

[Wildland]

Too bad I heard the Cancer Society people would be some suppling some plastic daffodils because the weather hindered growth

We inherited a bank of the things when we bought this place at Tawa a few years back.
For nearly 9 months of the year it is nice green lawn, then the daffs magically appear late in July and the area becomes a “no-go” zone (especially for people wielding weedeaters!). I was a bit over-zealous during the first year and nearly wiped them out (and was nearly ostracised), now we look forward to them putting in an appearance.

I have learnt to stay well away from them (on pain of death) until latish October by which time they look really scruffy but have had time to draw all the nutrients back down into the bulbs so that they can happily snooze through the summer months (while I clean up the mess, sigh) and then they pop back up a year later. More complex than managing children, really (although I have to admit that they .. the daffs.. tend to look after themselves if I follow a few rules).

This year's crop is as good as ever. Daffodils don't mind the cold and while NZ's heavy winter rains can bowl them over but they'll stand up again when conditions improve. Our wind gives them hell, of course. This year they are doing well because we have had chilling southerlies and they are sheltered from that by a couple of hulking rhododendrons (as guardians?). The drying northerlies (which us humans desperately want at the moment to chase some of the moisture out of the sodden ground) are conspicuously absent this year so the daffs (here, anyway) are in party mood.

Unfortunately, the garden weeds are also partying while I hide inside from the wet weather. A few sorties forth into the garden on recent sunnyish days has been more akin to wallowing in a mud bog. Perhaps we'll open a mud wrestling arena and sell a few tickets...

Nice to have the big yella fella putting in an appearance again.
No more cabin fever....

[RWood]

The "cabin fever" effect has been exaggerated a bit because of the weekend timings of many of the serious rainfall events. In point of fact Wellington will end up August with a small surplus of sunshine (assuming the weekend forecast is even vaguely correct). The same applied to March-June, only July spoiling the pattern. An unusual combination of anomalies. Lack of drying westerly quadrant winds has greatly enhanced the underfoot sogginess.

[Myself]

Yesterdays Dominion Post article was a classic "it's been raining loads, therefore it's not been sunny" piece.

"In a rotten winter that has seen Wellington drenched in almost twice the average rainfall, sun-starved residents can look to Thursdays for a reprieve."

I'd hardly say we've been sun-starved this winter, only July was dull.

In an amusing aside, perhaps some here, and the media, may like to know that Manchester in the UK has recorded somewhere in the region of 70 hours of sunshine to this date in August. And yes, it's "summer" over there.

[RWood]

Good points. I've pretty much given up on typical newspapers stories being able to distinguish between weather phenomena. Temperature and sunshine confuse them the most - perhaps if they were transported to the South Pole for a sunny 24 hrs in January with a reading of -25C, and then whisked to Darwin prior to a summer afternoon storm, light might dawn?

The UK - except the far north/NW of Scotland and the Shetlands - has had an exceptionally dull month thus far.

To the 28th: http://www.met.rdg.ac.uk/~brugge/CURR.html

Note the sunshine total for Eskdalemuir!

In the past some NZ locations have had some very low summer totals, less often in recent years. Waimate's 60 hrs in Dec 1959 (about 13.5% of the recordbale at the time) is the poorest in the records, though there is some doubt as to the quality of the exposure and recording equipment at the time.

[CHCH Weather Chaser]

Overcast gloomy sort of start to the day here in Christchurch but fine spells developing now and a decent breeze which is going to help with the drying out process. Infact the next 5 days are forecast and looking to be fine with northerlies developing later in the period and becoming gusty with mid to high teens in the mix. I wouldnt be surprised if we hit 20 degrees early next week as the Norwester can bump that temp right up. Im hoping for lots of sunshine and warm temps. Im trying to get my lawn back to its perfect best but i have moss growing in it that i have been fighting with for 3 or so months now because of the mositure levels and dampness of the ground!!! Shocking its the worst its ever been. Ive just mowed it though and the sun is coming out so hopefully it starts drying out underneath

Cheers
Mark

[NZ Thunderstorm Soc]

I've noticed that Steven Graham's SKYWATCHER site has his weather readings not on it anymore?/
I used to check it every day as a comparison to my readings here in West Melton.

JohnGaul
NZTS

[Philip Duncan]

I believe he was shifting house this month - that may be why? He mentioned to me a while back that the lightning detector may be out for a bit.

[NZ Thunderstorm Soc]

I believe he was shifting house this month - that may be why? He mentioned to me a while back that the lightning detector may be out for a bit.

...that may be why? Thanks Phil

JohnGaul
NZTS

[gopolks]

Well I hope it makes 20 degrees.

[NZ Thunderstorm Soc]

Well I hope it makes 20 degrees.

What?
The sunshine or the lollipops?

JohnGaul
NZTS

[Philip Duncan]

lol (Woops - sorry, we're banned from saying "lol" aren't we? Actually, I have to admit, how many people actually "laugh out loud" when they write lol?!! haha) I notice M/S are predicting highs of 15 or 16 for most South Island centres next week...I think upper teens and maybe 20 are possible for some regions.

[NZ Thunderstorm Soc]

That would be nice Phil, especially after the wet weather down here. STOS. Snigger to ones self
JohnGaul
NZTS

[Storm Struck]

Grrr at the anticyclonic gloom we had today and i thought after yesterdays blue dome skies a dito day was to follow.
Ohh well atleast it was short lived with the sun returning again tomorrow .
Great to see the cherry blossums out so early too along with the small build up of pollen on my car windows .
Just about time to get back into the garden and get my production rate for native seedlings ready for this season round.
Yes temperatures could well reach 20-23C in some areas next week with the warm NW flow and ridging fat high dragging in the warm air from across the Tasman.
I actually remember a day in August of the year 2004 i think it was where it reached 22C on a NW day so it's certainly not un heard of this early.
Cheers
Jason.

[Philip Duncan]

Sun should return to Auckland/Northland tomorrow...maybe even later today!

We need to shift the Coromandel closer to us!!

[Nev]

We need to shift the Coromandel closer to us!!

Already did that - doesn't seem to make a lot of difference, lol ... oops sorry, I mean

[gllitz]

Ohh well atleast it was short lived with the sun returning again tomorrow .
Great to see the cherry blossums out so early too along with the small build up of pollen on my car windows .

I am pretty sure, Jason, that the blossoms you are seeing here in the Chch area are plum tree blossoms , and not cherry blossoms (someone with more horticultural knowledge may wish to correct me here)...they are quite similar, but a bit more purple in the plum blossoms...the cherry blossoms ("sakura" in Japanese) won't be blooming for some time yet...still, very pretty and a sure sign Spring is just around the corner!

[Storm Struck]

Yes you are actually quite right there Glitnz, it is the plum tree's the cherry blossums dont start making an appearance until about early October atleast.
I like the cherry blossums better actually because of thier bulky and fluffy type flowers, beautiful sight to see though.
This is about the same time the pine tree's get into pollen mode, which also happen to be big producers of it.
The dafidals are starting to come out nicly near the Bishopdale round about i noticed yesterday too .
Cheers
Jason.

[gopolks]

Yep spring is here already here, I would say.

[CHCH Weather Chaser]

Great day here in Christchurch today. I went down to the cricket nets today for the first time in preperation for the new season with a friend. I tell you what it felt like it was around 20 degrees. I came home to check the temperature and it was only 10 degrees. I was like what!!! that cant be right, feels like at least 18 out there. However, a cool Northeast Breeze is keeping the real temp to around 10 degrees but the real feel is much higher out in that sun!
Im thinking maybe 20 for us here on Monday and Tuesday

[Myself]

The issue is whether you actually get that nor'wester early in the week. You may end up with NW just a few 100m up, but a NE at the surface.