Wicked Weather

GraemeWi · Unread post by **GraemeWi** » Wed 09/11/2005 17:15

At least they never used the 'mini' word when talking about a tornado! I found some of the older footage interesting.

Cheers,

G

Michael · Unread post by **Michael** » Wed 09/11/2005 18:30

On a windy day we get the majority of our wind from the SW probably 65% the other 15% probably NE and 10% SSW and 10% from the W.If we never got SW we would actually have quite a reasonable climate

Michael · Unread post by **Michael** » Wed 09/11/2005 18:37

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]

Gary Roberts · Unread post by **Gary Roberts** » Wed 09/11/2005 22:32

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.

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.

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.

Gary Roberts · Unread post by **Gary Roberts** » Wed 09/11/2005 22:35

NZstorm wrote:...Then perhaps Auckland

Gary Roberts · Unread post by **Gary Roberts** » Wed 09/11/2005 22:41

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.

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!

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...!

RWood · Unread post by **RWood** » Thu 10/11/2005 07:55

Gary Roberts wrote:
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.
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.

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.

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.

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).

RWood · Unread post by **RWood** » Thu 10/11/2005 15:28

Checked - it's Conroy's Gully. Has a few entries in Google for a winery (?), wedding venue and wildflower walks.

Weatherlawyer · Unread post by **Weatherlawyer** » Thu 10/11/2005 21:42

Gary Roberts wrote:
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.
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!

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...!

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.

So the moral of the story is beware BBC directors -and their like, bearing gifts.

NZ Thunderstorm Soc · Thu 10/11/2005 22:16

tich 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.

You are right there, Ben, I did tend to think, what about the southerlies? which didn't get much of a mention

JohnGaul
NZTS

Gary Roberts · Unread post by **Gary Roberts** » Fri 11/11/2005 00:21

RWood wrote:Checked - it's Conroy's Gully. Has a few entries in Google for a winery (?), wedding venue and wildflower walks.

Righto. The guys at NIWA Lauder told me that they setup their station there due to that location being the driest place in New Zealand. Wrong again it seems.

tich · Unread post by **tich** » Fri 11/11/2005 09:14

You are right there, Ben, I did tend to think, what about the southerlies? which didn't get much of a mention

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.

Willoughby · Unread post by **Willoughby** » Fri 11/11/2005 13:36

tich wrote:
You are right there, Ben, I did tend to think, what about the southerlies? which didn't get much of a mention
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.

Not enough swell can be created off the land wind (NW) whereas the southerly has miles to get it's big swells off.

RWood · Unread post by **RWood** » Tue 15/11/2005 21:09

Another epsiode of "Wicked Weather" on TV1 shortly - this time supposedly about the NZ summer's bag of tricks

Willoughby · Unread post by **Willoughby** » Tue 15/11/2005 22:46

Sorta boring tonight...
Eating Media Lunch was more interesting with quite a dirty european weather report on there!!

But great to see Omarama like that!

Cheers

NZ Thunderstorm Soc · Tue 15/11/2005 23:03

Yeah, that Guy Roxburgh fellow mentioning nothing about Christchurch's imfamous NE or ENE sea-breeze that can stuff up a good hot summer's day

...mind you winds were the focal point of last weeks programme

JohnGaul
NZTS

Michael · Unread post by **Michael** » Tue 15/11/2005 23:18

They also never mentioned the hideous SW we get spoiling the summer too

NZ Thunderstorm Soc · Tue 15/11/2005 23:30

Ah Well ...

next week it's about winter which should be interesting to Ben

Lots of cold facts etc. Maybe they might mention about Auckland's Sw gales then, Michael?
JohnGaul
NZTS

tich · Unread post by **tich** » Wed 23/11/2005 21:49

Final in series was good, knowing that you can't fit very much into a 1 hour program. But it didn't mention tornadoes - not as common as thunder and hail, but still an important (and often locally very damaging) aspect of stormy weather in NZ.

NZ Thunderstorm Soc · Wed 23/11/2005 22:12

Yes it was interesting but alot of the facts I knew about anyway.
Why mention about thunderstorms in the winter segment if the series?
Is that because Auckland gets more thunderstorms in winter?
No mention of the SW gales in Auckland which I thought was a bit unusual?

JohnGaul
NZTS

RWood · Unread post by **RWood** » Wed 23/11/2005 22:30

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.

Gary Roberts · Unread post by **Gary Roberts** » Wed 23/11/2005 23:04

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.

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 · Unread post by **RWood** » Thu 24/11/2005 06:56

Seems reasonable. I can recall light easterly breezes wafting through on the road between Tekapo and Burkes Pass (near the pass) but not much else from that quarter at all near the lake at least. These were probably just feeders between cool moist air and warmer dryer air.

GraemeWi · Unread post by **GraemeWi** » Thu 24/11/2005 07:21

I did enjoy seeing the footage of snow in Auckland - I didn't know any footage existed of it!

Cheers,

G

Manukau heads obs · Thu 24/11/2005 07:55

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