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spwill
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Unread post by spwill »

I did enjoy seeing the footage of snow in Auckland - I didn't know any footage existed of it!
I dont believe it has snowed in Auckland or Kaitia even in 1936.

NZTS said, :?
Why mention about thunderstorms in the winter segment if the series?
In NZ Thunderstorms are very much part of our Winter climate.
Gary Roberts
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Unread post by Gary Roberts »

RWood wrote: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.
Would you say the 'waterfall' cloud caps on the Hunters were being driven by ENE winds? It's amazing to watch them cresting the ranges and evaporating as they descend into the Mackenzie. It's a sure sign that you're about to drive into crap weather in Fairlie and beyond! :)

EDIT: Bloody typical...I go and say something like "ENE winds aren't common in the Mackenzie", and then the Twizel weather station registers a NE wind...and a guy who may be known to you at Meridian Energy tells me that he used to hangglide from Mt Mary whenever the NE winds blew. So I'm going to shuttup now. :shock: :D
Last edited by Gary Roberts on Thu 24/11/2005 20:04, edited 1 time in total.
GraemeWi
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Unread post by GraemeWi »

spwill wrote:
I did enjoy seeing the footage of snow in Auckland - I didn't know any footage existed of it!
I dont believe it has snowed in Auckland or Kaitia even in 1936.
Did you see the footage on TV?

It's snowed a couple of times in Auckland - I've collected a few anecdotes of snow in the Auckland region. I remember one of them when I was a kid during late 70's

Cheers,

G
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Willoughby
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Unread post by Willoughby »

GraemeWi wrote:
spwill wrote: I dont believe it has snowed in Auckland or Kaitia even in 1936.
Did you see the footage on TV?

It's snowed a couple of times in Auckland - I've collected a few anecdotes of snow in the Auckland region. I remember one of them when I was a kid during late 70's

Cheers,

G
I was amazed to see that footage! :shock:
Just goes to show it was possible for Sydney during southerly busters in the 30's(?).. and certainly sea-level snow for Melbourne :shock:
(On the same lattitude as here in Hamilton)
And I was totally amazed to see snow atop Pirongia this year! :oops: :D

So that Crops River site is the busiest rain bucket in NZ...
NIWA should stick one up on the Northwestern flank of Mt Taranaki.. then they'll see busy!! :twisted:
spwill
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Unread post by spwill »

Did you see the footage on TV?

It's snowed a couple of times in Auckland - I've collected a few anecdotes of snow in the Auckland region. I remember one of them when I was a kid during late 70's

Where in the Ak region were you living Graeme. I think what you saw was hail.
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Unread post by Manukau heads obs »

i have seen snow flakes fall here before (i.e they were floating around, not like hail)
and people living on the hill tops around here (200m) have seen it fall before (very briefly, and usualy as a very cold SW to S shower has gone over)
but its very rare , LOL
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tich
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Unread post by tich »

It's snowed a couple of times in Auckland - I've collected a few anecdotes of snow in the Auckland region. I remember one of them when I was a kid during late 70's
There's an article about the snows of 1939 in the July-Sept 2000 NZ Geographic. There were several extensive snowfalls in July 1939, but the 25th-27th was the most notable, and one that brought the snow to Auckland. All in all July 1939 was a exceptionally cold month throughout NZ - probably at least about 1.5C-2C below normal nationally.
Gary Roberts
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Unread post by Gary Roberts »

tich wrote:
It's snowed a couple of times in Auckland - I've collected a few anecdotes of snow in the Auckland region. I remember one of them when I was a kid during late 70's
There's an article about the snows of 1939 in the July-Sept 2000 NZ Geographic. There were several extensive snowfalls in July 1939, but the 25th-27th was the most notable, and one that brought the snow to Auckland. All in all July 1939 was a exceptionally cold month throughout NZ - probably at least about 1.5C-2C below normal nationally.
I was living near Thames back in the late '70s and saw snow on Table Hill once.
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Unread post by NZstorm »

A very good Documentary series I thought.

There is a rain guage on the Milford Track that would compete with Cobb River. Dumpling Hutt.

I think the wettest long term rain guage in NZ is Stratford Mtn House on Mt Taranaki. They get 6370mm a year, a bit more than Milford Sound.
Manukau heads obs
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Unread post by Manukau heads obs »

I think the wettest long term rain guage in NZ is Stratford Mtn House on Mt Taranaki. They get 6370mm a year, a bit more than Milford Sound.
i take it that its in the ranges behind hokitika that is the highest rainfall
where something like 8000mm is the normal annual total
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GraemeWi
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Unread post by GraemeWi »

spwill wrote:
Did you see the footage on TV?

It's snowed a couple of times in Auckland - I've collected a few anecdotes of snow in the Auckland region. I remember one of them when I was a kid during late 70's

Where in the Ak region were you living Graeme. I think what you saw was hail.
It was on One Tree Hill - it was on the radio and other media etc back then, and has been written about on the forum before. What information source are you using to say otherwise?

Other anecdotes of snow in Auckland:

Ellerslie 1964
Mt. Hikurangi (in Northland) in the 70's
Downtown Auckland 1974 (snowflakes observed from the 10th floor Air NZ building)
Bombay, Waitakeres, parts of North Shore June 1978
Upper Queen St & Waihiki Island Sept 1977
Hunuas Sept 1981
Whitford Aug 1984
Tamaki 1992
Hunuas Aug 2001
West Auckland, Waitakeres, Hunuas 1976

G - and it is still my ambition to get snow on camera in Auckland
Manukau heads obs
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Unread post by Manukau heads obs »

Downtown Auckland 1974 (snowflakes observed from the 10th floor Air NZ building)
i have read the newspaper articles on that one which my dad had kept...
yes, the bombay hills have had snow falling before on a few occasions :)
(1000 feet altitude at the top at bombay there, 1300 feet at Mt William)
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spwill
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Unread post by spwill »

and it is still my ambition to get snow on camera in Auckland
Would love to see a snow fall in Auckland :D

What information source are you using to say otherwise?
People I know who have lived in Ak a very long time say they have never seen snow here.
I just think Auckland is too warm for snow but I dont consider the top of the Bombay hills, Mt Hikurangi etc to be Auckland.

A fall of Hail looks a lot like snow.
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Michael
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Unread post by Michael »

It would snow here if we were exposed more to the southerly but the SW the showers appear to grow as they move north and be sleety rather :roll:
spwill wrote:
and it is still my ambition to get snow on camera in Auckland
Would love to see a snow fall in Auckland :D

What information source are you using to say otherwise?
People I know who have lived in Ak a very long time say they have never seen snow here.
I just think Auckland is too warm for snow but I dont consider the top of the Bombay hills, Mt Hikurangi etc to be Auckland.

A fall of Hail looks a lot like snow.
tich
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Unread post by tich »

People I know who have lived in Ak a very long time say they have never seen snow here.
I just think Auckland is too warm for snow but I dont consider the top of the Bombay hills, Mt Hikurangi etc to be Auckland.

A fall of Hail looks a lot like snow.
On the ground snow and hail may look similar, but once you look more closely the stones become obvious in the white blanket. Also (I've seen this plenty of times on Banks Peninsula) hail dumpings tend to be localised in an area regardless of altitude, while snow generally tends to lie only above a certain level in falls. But to people who don't know that much about meteorology and don't take a close look, snow and hail coatings do look similar.

I guess some of the reported Auckland snowfalls may have been localised flurries, which could've hit one area and not another.
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NZstorm
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Unread post by NZstorm »

I checked the NZ Herald for the period 24th to 28th July 1939.

The snow fall occured in Auckland in the early hours of the 27th and came with the passing of a front in a very cold SW flow. The weather did clear for a time after the snow fall which suggests a southerly change in behind the front. Snow settled on hillsides and there was sprinklings in the city and suburbs.

Some quotes from the Herald
"at ten minutes past four snow was falling at Onehunga and about five o'clock another fall lasting 20 minutes with a light coating on Cambpell and Mt Smart Roads"

"Constables report a light fall in the city itself at an early hour and some workers early on the way to there employment had the unique experience in these lattitudes of having their clothes thinly coated with flakes. However in most of the lower areas the flakes quickly melted."


"The Otau and Ponga ranges near Hunua recieved a heavy coating of snow
with falls upto 4inches.... At Waiatara about the highest point of the Waitakeres, 2inches was recorded...... Pukekohe Hill 1inch.....Mt Eden and one tree hill had good coatings".

Many higher parts of Northland were coated as well with snow also being reported from Dargaville.

The weather on the 24th, 25th and 26th in Auckland proceeding the snow event was string SW, heavy showers, hail. Daily temp rainge 6-10C.
temp range on day of snow was 2C to 10C.

I suggest this is the biggest recorded snowfall in European settlement at Auckland. NZ Herald also gave reports of significant snowfalls at Dunedin. Christchurch had one snowfall during this period.
Last edited by NZstorm on Thu 24/11/2005 20:52, edited 1 time in total.
GraemeWi
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Unread post by GraemeWi »

spwill wrote: People I know who have lived in Ak a very long time say they have never seen snow here.
I just think Auckland is too warm for snow but I dont consider the top of the Bombay hills, Mt Hikurangi etc to be Auckland.

A fall of Hail looks a lot like snow.
I also know people who have lived in Auckland for many years and have never seen a tornado or waterspout - thats not too rash to say tornados and waterspouts simply don't occur in the Auckland region based on that evidence.

Most people in Auckland don't look at the sky. I know some of my workmates are more interested in the sky now that I point out interesting features in the sky to them.

Ruaotuwhenua off Scenic Drive, 440m ASL is my pick of position in Auckland - unable to find anywhere in the Hunuas with good road access yet.

Cheers,

G
spwill
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Unread post by spwill »

I also know people who have lived in Auckland for many years and have never seen a tornado or waterspout - thats not too rash to say tornados and waterspouts simply don't occur in the Auckland region based on that evidence

Snow flurries are far more obvious.
Our Tornado's/ waterspouts last minutes and are isolated and if I asked an Aucklander if they had seen one they would probably say no however they would agree they do occur as we see them and hear about them quite regularly on TV and in our Newspapers.


Thanks very much NZstorm for that very interesting NZ Herald snow report from 1939.
Do the Temperature's on the day of the snow (2C to 10C) back up that story?
It dose look like snow did fall on that day.
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