Memories of major storm events in the past

tich · Unread post by **tich** » Fri 17/10/2003 15:46

I imagine many people on this forum will have personal memories of major storms from way back, maybe even from childhood. I mean events like cyclones, tornadoes, snowstorms/polar blasts, and spectacular thunder/hailstorms.

I vividly remember 2 spectaular late afternoon thunderstorms in Rotorua, from January 1984 and February 1990. The latter was a particularly intense storm. The day was sunny (with scattered cloud), very warm (up to about 30C) and humid, without much wind. Into these conditions, in late afternoon, arrived a weak cold front with a change to cooler southeasterly winds. Guess what that meant - a really intense thunderstorm. While there was thunder and lightning (and a bit of hail for a time), what I remembered most about that storm was the intense downpour, which caused quite alot of surface flooding around the city. Several people had to be evacuated from a restaraunt when the heavy rain resulted in the collapse of the roof!

Living in a place where low level snowfalls are rare, one remembers such events. I recall waking up on morning in September 1981 to see a thick coating of snow on Mt Ngongotaha and other hills around Rotorua. A few hours later, it snowed in the city itself, though it didn't settle. Most of the snow cover had melted from the hills by noon.

Ben
Christchurch

Michael · Unread post by **Michael** » Fri 17/10/2003 16:23

I remember one day in the late 1960's when I was a kid and it was clear blue skies outside in the morning without a cloud then getting ligtning and booming thunder in the afternoon with torrential rain but unsure the date It was in Wanganui

GraemeWi · Unread post by **GraemeWi** » Fri 17/10/2003 21:39

Guy Forks night (1984) Returned home after a big party at some friends.

Sometime during the night awoke to constant thunder and lightning that was like a fluro tube - nearly constant 100% light. Unfortunatly I didn't know much about weather at all and thought it was a bit of a storm.

In the morning we found a tornado passed very close to the house and travelled down the valley. You can still see a damaged row of Microcarpa where the tornado crossed State highway 16.

G

NZ Thunderstorm Soc · Fri 17/10/2003 23:55

I have lots of memories of storm/storm events over the years, here in NZ and overseas.

I can remember a great thunderstorm in Berkshire England in 1992. The lightning was that frequent that I could actually feel my hair stand on end!!
I saw a bolt of lightning strike a tree about 100 yards away. The tree never caught fire but left a great scorch mark down the trunk.

There are other events like I can remember, the Wahine Storm here in ChCh for example.
I can remember the late 1960s being a thunderous period here in Canterbury, this enhancing my interest in stormy weather at an early period.

JohnGaul
NZTS

NZstorm · Unread post by **NZstorm** » Sat 18/10/2003 09:08

My most lasting weather memories are from growing up south of Dunedin where we used to get the rare winter snow storm and school would close for a day or two. Winters of 1976 and 1978 stand out in particular with big snow dumps.

Possibly the best lightning show I have ever seen was the storm that struck the sky tower 16 times back in August 1999. I was fortunate enough to be working close to the tower and observed most of the strikes.
I have observed alot of storms over the years but never seen the same building repeatedly struck by lightning. It was looked surreal.

Dean. · Unread post by **Dean.** » Sat 18/10/2003 10:41

The August 1992 snowstorm was a highlight for me.I decided to go on one of my drives inland to see how deep the snow was.I ended up driving up a single lane roadwith 5-6 foot of snow piled up on the sides,only having to reverse 8 kilometres to turn around!!.

tich · Unread post by **tich** » Sat 18/10/2003 12:03

I well remerber the snowstorm of August 1992. It wasn't yet living in Chch, but I was travelling from Dunedin home to Rotorua. In Dunedin there were a couple of days with snow showers to sea-level, enough to disrupt transport in the hill suburbs, but no significant falls at the lowest levels. Travelling from Dunedin to Chch on the 27th, there was no snow lying near sea-level until I got to Timaru, where the white blanket began. From there almost to Chch was a continuous thick white coating. Only traces lay in Chch city, but the big snow was the next morning. Where I was staying (Riccarton) the depth was probably not as much as in eastern parts of the city, but still thick enough to seriously disrupt transport.

As I left Chch in the afternoon, it had begun raining, but it would take alot of rain to melt the snow. Interestingly from Kaiapoi northwards there was no more snow lying near sea-level, though the hills and higher parts of State Highway One still had snow lying and falling. Another side-effect of the storm was a heavy swell in Cook Strait, making for a bumpy ride on the Ferry - and that was on the Arahura, not the smaller Aratika.

There was still snow lying above about 500-600 metres in the central and southern North Island the next day, but the Desert Road had opened by afternoon. But it closed again that night, and when I woke the next morning in Rotorua, hills to the east of the city had a white topping, and there was an extensive coating of snow in the rural areas south of the city and in Taupo. But unlike Canterbury, most of it had melted by the end of the day.

Thunder · Unread post by **Thunder** » Sat 18/10/2003 21:04

Ah yes, the 1992 snow, and lots of it! I lived up on the port hills then (Kennidies Bush Rd to be exact) and remember lots of snow etc, and I woke up in the middel of the night to night time lightning, I swear there was some nght time lightning, and yes in winter! even though the end of August might be considered to be coming out of winter.

Another event I can remember distinctly was when I was living on the port hills and it was a fine sunny day (possibly 1993? or there abouts) and all of a sudden this dark mean cloud came over and I swear I saw it rolling around (like a wave at the beach, I was young then so may not remember it correctly but that's the image in my mind) on a horizontall axis somewhere on some part of the base of the cloud, it poured and there was heaps of rain which made the gutters overflow, possibly hail to and most likely lightning. It might of been the storm that installed the weather bug into me. The thing was as soon as it came it was gone and it came out all fine and sunny again.

It was truley severe as I remeber it.

Cheers
Aaron Wilkinson

NZ Thunderstorm Soc · Sun 19/10/2003 19:20

Aaron J Wilkinson wrote:Ah yes, the 1992 snow, and lots of it! I lived up on the port hills then (Kennidies Bush Rd to be exact) and remember lots of snow etc, and I woke up in the middel of the night to night time lightning, I swear there was some nght time lightning, and yes in winter! even though the end of August might be considered to be coming out of winter.

Another event I can remember distinctly was when I was living on the port hills and it was a fine sunny day (possibly 1993? or there abouts) and all of a sudden this dark mean cloud came over and I swear I saw it rolling around (like a wave at the beach, I was young then so may not remember it correctly but that's the image in my mind) on a horizontall axis somewhere on some part of the base of the cloud, it poured and there was heaps of rain which made the gutters overflow, possibly hail to and most likely lightning. It might of been the storm that installed the weather bug into me. The thing was as soon as it came it was gone and it came out all fine and sunny again. It was truley severe as I remeber it.

Cheers
Aaron Wilkinson

Would that be the event of July 24th 1993 when a summer type of thunderstorm struck mainly around the eastern suburbs and the PortHills area of Christchurch. I think I may have given you the video footage of that storm.

JohnGaul
NZTS

Thunder · Unread post by **Thunder** » Mon 20/10/2003 11:40

Hi John

Are you reffering to that one you videoed at wigram nearing night time? because this (the storm I saw when I was young) was during the day (12-1pm?) so I doubt it would of been part of that system unless other storms popped up earlier on during that day.

Or are you talking about that storm and how you videoed that small funnel cloud somewhere on the Port Hills,

or perhaps your talking about something totally different and I haven't seen it? You mention you videoed this 1993 one in July, I remember this day being a summer type day, July is in winter so perhaps these events aren't related, but you say it was a summer type thunderstorm so then again it could've been part of the same thing.

Also, just to say I'm ready whenever you decided to have a CWW meeting, a slide evening at Bob's?

Cheers
Aaron Wilkinson

NZ Thunderstorm Soc · Mon 20/10/2003 18:02

Aaron J Wilkinson wrote:
Are you reffering to that one you videoed at wigram nearing night time? because this (the storm I saw when I was young) was during the day (12-1pm?) so I doubt it would of been part of that system unless other storms popped up earlier on during that day.

No, it wouldn't been that one as that thunderstorm was very weak and quite isolated.

Or are you talking about that storm and how you videoed that small funnel cloud somewhere on the Port Hills, or perhaps your talking about something totally different and I haven't seen it? You mention you videoed this 1993 one in July, I remember this day being a summer type day, July is in winter so perhaps these events aren't related, but you say it was a summer type thunderstorm so then again it could've been part of the same thing.

No it was none of those. You mentioned about it being a summers day, so I don't know which storm it was. The July 24th storm was unusual because it was a summery type of one in winter. The Temp was 10c before the storm and then dropped rapidly to 4C when it passed over .It was mainly contained aroundBP/The Port Hills as the airport got nothing from it.

Regarding the CWW, I haven't had much feedback from it but I think from next year I might try to get it back into full swing again.
I haven't heard from Bob for a while but when I do, I could mention that the NZTS could have a bit of a slide evening say at his place, whatever.

JohnGaul
NZTS

tich · Unread post by **tich** » Fri 07/11/2003 11:25

Did anyone watch the 80s documentary on Monday night? Aside from the dodgy hairstyles and fashions, 2 storms were obviously memorable enough to be mentioned - the 1980 Taieri flood and Cyclone Bola. I only remember the Taieri flood from watching the news at the time, but I experienced Cyclone Bola first hand, well the southeasterly gales on its western flank. I was in Hamilton, where there wasn't much rain, but there certainly was plenty of wind, though not nearly as bad as some other areas, like Taranaki.

Manukau heads obs · Fri 07/11/2003 18:55

there was a very big storm that went through this district (Franklin) and into the Hauraki plains in 1963, october, I think....a NWer, caused by a wave depression on a front...
My dad remember it well.
We lost the haybarn and numerous large pine trees.
In the district, whole lines of microcarpa trees were blown down.
It was described as a hurricane in the paper at the time...
Brian