Dry and hot, North Island, January

[David]

Looking like another very warm day in northern NZ.

Yes that's what I thought this morning - it is currently 22C already. Didn't expect Metservice to downgrade today's high from 27 to 25, would have thought today could have reached 27 actually. SW is better than NE for heat here (because they come across more land before they reach us) so if it doesn't pick up like yesterday it should be HOT.

edit: they upped it back to 27

[jamie]

I cant see any thunderstorms happening this afternoon here, there is hardly a cloud in the sky and it feels like a really dry heat.
Going to be another craker of a day, HOT and windless at the moment.

[Manukau heads obs]

i see foggy has 17.6 DP
thats not a dry heat
http://www.hamiltonweather.co.nz/
cloudy periods and onshore SW keeping things cooler here

[NZstorm]

i see foggy has 17.6 DP

Yes, its a humid day but with these warm upper air masses I like to see dewpoints of 20C before I talk thunderstorms.

[tgsnoopy]

I've snuck home for a shower & change and am shocked at how hot it is!

35.7° C outside presently (calibrated digital thermometer, based on ICL7106 & LM335, calibrated using latent heat of solidification & liquification of water at 0° C and 100° C).

http://kiwiradio.blakjak.net/

[David]

Strange temperature behaviour today - got to 26.1 this morning, and now that the weather is starting to clear a bit its dropped back again. Its like when we reached 27 a few days back, it was at 1pm, then it got sunny and it dropped?

Also instances for today such as the temp dropping 0.9C when the sun goes away for a minute, or dropping 1C when gusts of wind come in. Still I would expect 27C this afternoon based on in theory the sun should increase the temperature.

[jamie]

Been a strange heat today, as i said earlyer it felt quite dry this morning but now its as muggy as a tropical island and bloody hot. Even got some cloud build ups to the far south ( which is where MS were forcasting TS to be).

[spwill]

Sunny humid 26C here with a fresh SouthWester though I see the flow has tended Easterly now higher up. Some towering Cu in the East /SE.

[spwill]

looks like some thundery Cb's have developed south Waikato way

[jamie]

Boy those two cells are breath taking from here. They are massive too. Look around tokoroa ways. Got some other to the west of them building too. Looks like it is going to be a good lighting display tonight.

[jamie]

I just went out to take a photo and found some cloud near by had destroyed my view. Any way this is what it looks like, seems to be weakining too.

[GreggWard]

Nice photo j--me--h. Would that Cb be to the east of Te Kuiti?

[NZstorm]

Cb's still firing over Waikato now. Can see the clouds from Auckland. Foggys weather station at 7pm had a temp of 28.7 and dewpoint of 19.1C.

If the convective chances had have been higher today I would have gone for a drive but too low a risk to have gone down there on the off chance.

Yes a nice pic there.

[jamie]

Would that Cb be to the east of Te Kuiti?

Yea i think it would have been that one.

It was great watching them fire up, watched them go from nothing to that during milking.

Damn it was hot today. Foggy recorded 31.9 .

[Willoughby]

Amazing Cb to the SW here, gotta grab a pic!

Sure was another stinker here today eh...

Edit: Just so common that a little bank of clouds ruin a shot.

Nice pic Jaime, great to see cells about today... they were topping good heights too.
Just switched back on Nexstorm, but it seems to be ranging too far out at the moment.

[Manukau heads obs]

Yes,great CB ...over shooting top at times....
I did not have my camera with me where it was though, damit

[spwill]

Best looking Cb tops I've seen since USA but too distant to photo from here.

[jamie]

Are they/were they over shooting? I thought thats wht they were doing at one point this afternoon but wasnt sure if thunder storms have vigerous enough updrafts in NZ to do so.

Low messy cloud is spilling over my head now, and in the gaps can see a Cb building quite close

[Manukau heads obs]

i see a late day towering CB somewhere close to you now...

yes, Cb's are often can be seen with overshooting tops
The CB today had so much momentum, it did not form the classic sharp edged anvil....i.e it looked like it had not reached the anvil height....but it had,....it was just still going up so strong .....at times....it would have had super cooled stuff

[Willoughby]

Nice sunset under the weak showers (I think there was a bit of precip in the mix...)

[NZ Thunderstorm Soc]

Good to see Jim Hickey back on TV One weather, tonight
However he didn't mention anything about thunder activity over the middle to north NI but did mention drizzle areas along the east coast of the SI.
With the recent warmth moved up to the NI, I thought that Kawerau would win today.
What is the population of Kawerau? Why don't they show it on their map, as the max???
Hamilton made 31ºC and I see old Foggy got up to 31.8ºC I think?

JohnGaul
NZTS

[Manukau heads obs]

nice sunet photo that Foggy

[spwill]

Fine with a gusty E/SE here today and up to 28C but dewpoints have been down around 13C so not feeling too hot.
Some cloud moving in now

[NZstorm]

Yes, good to see a fohn wind here in Auckland. Don't get to see it here often. I'm enjoying the drop in humidity today.

[David]

Yes that was one hot wind today - rather than it giving relief from the heat, it blew the heat into you and made you feel hotter!
Recorded my highest temperature since I started records here (1 Jan 2006), managed to reach 28.0C. (Makes me wonder how hot February could be). Dropped to 25C with more cloud now and SE had picked up significantly this afternoon, gusting 50km/h recently. Me thinks it will be a hot one tonight and a windy one tomorrow!