Wicked Weather
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For today's weather discussion head to: New Zealand Weather & Climate
These topics are a read-only archive and may be subject to out-of-date information.
For today's weather discussion head to: New Zealand Weather & Climate
- Michael
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I reckon Napier/Hastings isnt that windy,if it is its a nice NW and the dust flies straight into the sea on a hot day but the westerly gales that are south of Dannevirk abruptly abate to no wind or even a light easterly north of Waipukurau[ quote="NZstorm"]
I would pick somewhere in the BOP like Whakatane as being the least windy. Then perhaps Auckland [/quote]
I would pick somewhere in the BOP like Whakatane as being the least windy. Then perhaps Auckland [/quote]
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The Norwester hammers all areas of the MacKenzie, but I don't think I have ever seen wind such as that which blasts through to/from the head of Lake Ohau. Last week a gust blew in the side of a farm shed near Weatherall's Motel.RWood wrote:Wouldn't be Tekapo - NW can blow quite hard off the lake. (Don't recall there ever being wind stats. for the township). But a number of places with low values that I recall in reports are Waimana (BOP) ,Taumaranui and Arapito (near Karamea). Hanmer has low values in winter but summer NW can be strong.
Mt. John cops some horrendous winds. They're only around 300m or so above the town. I was at the observatory one night back in '96 or '97 and the wind was so strong that Stuart Barnes couldn't even get words out and had to use sign language. The two of us together barely got the door closed.
I can't remember ever being in Alex on a windy day, but that's not to say they don't have them, right Andy? Of course, Alex isn't NZ's driest place either...I believe that honor goes to Lauder, a wee way up the highway.
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While I agree that the BBC and 'Horizon' does have an inflated estimation of themselves, I doubt whether they said anything about Hancock which any scientist wouldn't have already said, and probably a lot less diplomatically!Weatherlawyer wrote:The BBC did something like that to a fellow called Hancock over something else but using their flagship science programme. They realy did a job on him. I doubt there are many met men that far out though.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/horizon/20 ... _bsc.shtml
His own site paints a slightly different story to the one that appears on their database. It's all a matter of how gormless the average Kiwi is. You can pull a lot of wool over a substantial portion of the UK if your name is BBC.
His Mars Face circus was one of the most irritating experiences I've ever sat through. I wouldn't have minded so much if he was just some nutjob who actually believed in the stuff he spouted, but it seemed pretty obvious to me that he was just a scammer fleecing a bunch of 'I Want To Believe' types.
Still, you're right in one respect: ideas and hypotheses which run counter to the accepted mainstream scientific theories are guranteed a hostile reception, as are those who dare postulate them. Bah, science...!
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Mt John has the South Island's official gust record at 250kph. Old quotes said the wind could roll boulders (size?). But at higher altitudes things are unknown - I suspect the wind that blew a hut off Mt Cook in Jan 1977 could have approached 300kph (some who have studied such matters think so). NW Alex winds close to the river courses can be very frisky at times. We had a bach on the hill south of the river, and of course it was windier there than in the township.Gary Roberts wrote:The Norwester hammers all areas of the MacKenzie, but I don't think I have ever seen wind such as that which blasts through to/from the head of Lake Ohau. Last week a gust blew in the side of a farm shed near Weatherall's Motel.RWood wrote:Wouldn't be Tekapo - NW can blow quite hard off the lake. (Don't recall there ever being wind stats. for the township). But a number of places with low values that I recall in reports are Waimana (BOP) ,Taumaranui and Arapito (near Karamea). Hanmer has low values in winter but summer NW can be strong.
Mt. John cops some horrendous winds. They're only around 300m or so above the town. I was at the observatory one night back in '96 or '97 and the wind was so strong that Stuart Barnes couldn't even get words out and had to use sign language. The two of us together barely got the door closed.
I can't remember ever being in Alex on a windy day, but that's not to say they don't have them, right Andy? Of course, Alex isn't NZ's driest place either...I believe that honor goes to Lauder, a wee way up the highway.
According to NIWA the driest location on the last 30-year averages is in the Alex. vicinity (just south of the town? - Conroy's Gully or some such? - Andy? - Salinger quoted it in a program on NZ extremes last year).
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I have never read much on the bloke apart fromhis reply to the BBC hatchette job on him. They did something extremely unpleasant using and abusing him badly.Gary Roberts wrote:While I agree that the BBC and 'Horizon' does have an inflated estimation of themselves, I doubt whether they said anything about Hancock which any scientist wouldn't have already said, and probably a lot less diplomatically!Weatherlawyer wrote:The BBC did something like that to a fellow called Hancock over something else but using their flagship science programme. They realy did a job on him. I doubt there are many met men that far out though.
Still, you're right in one respect: ideas and hypotheses which run counter to the accepted mainstream scientific theories are guranteed a hostile reception, as are those who dare postulate them. Bah, science...!
So the moral of the story is beware BBC directors -and their like, bearing gifts.
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You are right there, Ben, I did tend to think, what about the southerlies? which didn't get much of a mentiontich wrote:Ok program so far, but needs correcting about Cook Strait storms. As far as I know, westerly flows over NZ are diverted into northwesterly as they flow through Cook Strait (when has Wellington ever had a direct westerly wind?), and although Strait northwesterlies and northerlies can reach very high speeds, it's the southerlies that bring the high swells. Cook Strait waters are more exposed to swells coming from the latter direction than the former. I haven't heard of ferry sailings being cancelled during severe northwesterly storms, but plenty of times they get disrupted during big southerlies.
JohnGaul
NZTS
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- Willoughby
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Not enough swell can be created off the land wind (NW) whereas the southerly has miles to get it's big swells off.tich wrote:I've been on an Interislander ferry in a northwest or northerly gale - sea was very choppy, but not high. Rough if you're in a small boat or yacht, but nothing for a big vessel.You are right there, Ben, I did tend to think, what about the southerlies? which didn't get much of a mention
- Willoughby
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I'm guessing the Two Thumbs range and Hunter hills must shunt the ENE winds to the south and east of the Mackenzie country, since they appear to be relatively rare. Is that the case? The easterly isn't uncommon, funneled up the Waitaki valley from the east coast, but winds from the NE aren't common here at all.RWood wrote:Whole series was very ho-hum. Only novelty for me was seeing the Cropp River site. Wind story was very biased with overlong coverage of a small set of Wellington events, not even a mention of the Canty-Otago ENE winds to cite one example. Much cheaper to keep playing the same old set of file tapes.
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that was amazing to see that snow footage, and that it fell all the way to the far north
the sudden sun/cloud loud noise interjection thing is a bit annoying
the presenter is enthusiastic, which is good.
a bit too much time trying to be a local in a central otago pub too,which would take about 20 years, me thinks
auckland isthmus convering sea breeze thunderstorms are neat when they happen, but its not very commen, as to get just the right conditions is rare
(more often that not one sea breeze takes over the other too much)
would have been better to mention the kaimai ranges thunderstorms in the summer, and the sea breeze convergent there (coming from the BOP, firth of thames and all the way from raglan at times too
the sudden sun/cloud loud noise interjection thing is a bit annoying
the presenter is enthusiastic, which is good.
a bit too much time trying to be a local in a central otago pub too,which would take about 20 years, me thinks
auckland isthmus convering sea breeze thunderstorms are neat when they happen, but its not very commen, as to get just the right conditions is rare
(more often that not one sea breeze takes over the other too much)
would have been better to mention the kaimai ranges thunderstorms in the summer, and the sea breeze convergent there (coming from the BOP, firth of thames and all the way from raglan at times too