Warm and Dry for the East...Again

[RWood]

Thanks RWood, I guess the times I have been in Wellington and have had the northerlies or southerlies is because I remembered them then but not so well remembered or noticeable was the wind on the calm pleasant days or variable breeze days It's just that I have never read of you complaining about the Wellington northerlies!!

Getting away from the coasts - yes I still feel a huge reduction in windspeeds here in the Sth Waikato compared with the Sth Wairarapa coastline, or just inland one ridge broadside on to the southerlies off the Twin Kaikoura snow capped ranges...

My take on complaining is simple - it's pointless and ineffective. If you don't like a place's climate, you leave. And further on the whole matter of the effects of day to day weather - setting aside the more extreme events - my approach is that I assess it on two different scales/axes - a stimulation/annoyance one (for "higher impact" conditions) and a kind of "placidity/gloom" one for "lower impact" conditions. Wellington obviously provides quite a bit of the former type, though its is far from being alone in that capability. The latter one is more important to me in the negative sense - e.g, I dislike persistent cloudiness and would hate to live a year in most parts of the UK, for example. Alexandra is rather pleasant for much of the year in most people's estimation, but the winter fogs are a real drag [something a Wellington relative of mine once experienced for a couple of winters - and hated].

[Jac]

Well its already warming up fast here in the east of the North Island, 10am and already Napier is officially on 34!!

[CHCH Weather Chaser]

I just saw that! Thats insane 34 for 10am!! No southerly change there today either so is something near 40 on the cards?

[Myself]

I just saw that! Thats insane 34 for 10am!! No southerly change there today either so is something near 40 on the cards?

It doesn't necessarily mean that the temperature will rise and rise...there will be limitations based upon the airmass. BUT, with such high 850hPa temperatures, foehn warming (i.e. dry adiabatic lapse rates) and super adiabatic conditions possible near the surface, I would say that the record (which I think is 36.9C) could well be in some danger today....

If you want to keep up to speed with it, go to Metservice.com, click Napier then click the webcam. It gives you minute by minute data and images. It's 35.0C at 10:58AM...


Wind has picked up there now. 34.4C at just gone 11AM. It's a battle of foehn and sunshine vs mixing. The wind needs to be less than it is now though to threaten the record.

[RWood]

On the famous 7/2/1973 Ch'ch Aero, whose max was 40.5C[lower than the Gardens (41.6)] was reported as having reached 40C by 10am (NZST).

[Jac]

And at 11am, 28 in Masterton, 31 in Hastings, 35 in Napier and 29 in Gisborne, so into this afternoon, might see all of these areas reach the mid-high thirties!

[CHCH Weather Chaser]

Up to 30.4 degrees here in Christchurch in quite heavy overcast skies. Strange

[Myself]

Cloud cover increasing in Napier, and still a 50km/h westerly. Record doesn't look in danger under current conditions. 34.3C.

[borris89]

westerly has really started tp pick up here now and pushed the temp up to 33.9 degrees

[Chris Raine]

And in complete contrast the SW change swept through Southland around 0530 this morning , no rain at Thornbury but gusting 30-34 knots at times . Temp only 17.2 degrees

[CHCH Weather Chaser]

We have had the southerly change here if you can call it that. Hardly a breath of wind gusting to 7km/h from the south for the past hour or so and all the rain on the radar that was to south has moved past us to the north and out to sea! Was it just a very weak southerly change? Still 29 degrees here

[melja]

Haha dont worry the M/S will soon change the forcast to "clearing and becoming fine" even no we had nothing

[CHCH Weather Chaser]

haha, that would be right. The change is happening here now southerlies gusting to 35km/h at the moment but still warm and around 28 degrees and the sun is now out and as i look south it looks clearer than anywhere else.

[jrj]

Hastings AWS 37.0 C, 10.5% RH
35.5 at my location, 18%.

[borris89]

36.8 where i am, 11% rh. that high cloud is starting to thicken up now tho

[Achten]

38.2 a short while ago, dropped back to 36.3

[CHCH Weather Chaser]

Temps from weather stations look to be pulling back just a little but in the Hawkes Bay with Havelock north just dropping somewhat and napier ever so slightly however, the Wairoa station showing 39 degrees currently

[Jac]

Officially 33 right now at the Gisborne Airport, feels a LOT warmer in the city though, I would expect to reach a max of around 35 between 3.30 and 5 here...

[CHCH Weather Chaser]

40.1 degrees in Wairoa now according to the station there. Its a weather underground one. WOnder if its accurate.

[tgsnoopy]

I've got 32.1°C on a calibrated thermometer in a breeze (shaded) here in my carport!

I seem to feel the heat worse here in NZ than Au (presumably cause I'm usually working here and relaxed on holiday in Au, or maybe it's just higher humidity/dewpoint here).

I don't think the Airports 28°C is a good representation of the heat here in Tauranga. Gary's Welcome Bay station is reporting 27.3°C

[Compie]

You lucky sods. 20°C and 100km SW winds all day here on Otago Peninsula, very boring, very Autumn and very bloody annoying. I mean who needs to walk on an angle to their car. Argh!

[Razor]

are we having the hottest summer in ages in canterbruy or what? I've lost track of the 30 degree days. Jan stats will be very interesting....

all this after several significant snow events last winter....

gotta love global warming

[tgsnoopy]

gotta love global warming

Umm, I don't think I'd scratch it up to global warming just yet.

Some extremely cold stuff happening in other areas presently.

I think we are seeing more extremes, but I recall actual statistics over the whole world have dropped the last couple of years.

Someone please take me to task on that as I can't find where I read it right now.

[jamie]

I thought i could feel it warming up again and i checked to see that it has. Back up to 18.4 from a low of 17.1. How high will it go? i hope not any higher! Late night watching the cricket and tennis. Tense games!

[Nev]

On another thread...

...Overall, not as hot as media stories would tend to imply...

It appears our Aussie neighbours are a little bemused by this statement from TVNZ (I wonder why)...

'NZ's turn for a heatwave'
ONE News - 6:45PM Sunday February 01, 2009

Parts of New Zealand have been giving Australia a run for its money in the soaring temperature stakes. The East Coast has seen record breaking highs in Wairoa, Hastings and Napier with the mercury hitting the high thirties...

It was even hotter in fact than the heat searing Australia's southern states...