Aucklands Hottest day

[NZstorm]

was 33.1C recorded at Henderson on Feb3 1998. The NZHerald/TV1news/NewstalkZB have been reporting the 32.4C at Whenuapai yesterday as Aucklands hottest day in 137 years.

There was a N/NE flow yesterday and western places like Whenuapai are sheltered in that wind flow, hence the higher temp reading there. It would be interesting to find out what Hendersons reading was yesterday. The Airport also gets warm on a NE flow recorded 28.4C.

[Manukau heads obs]

yes, unfortunatly the media have stretched things again
it was Whenuapai's hottest day, and envions around there (i.e areas to the NNW of auckland)
but for the rest of the auckland area (i.e the vast majority of the area) it was no where near the hottest day on record (on the 3rd feb 1998 the whole area got to at least 31 (we got to 31 here as well)

[spwill]

It would be interesting to find out what Hendersons reading was yesterday.

There was a lot more cloud out that way,less cloud cover as you went east across Auckland but more cooling on the east coast with the fresh N/NE wind. I would expect the warmest temps to be southwest of the City.

dewpoints above 20C across the region yesterday so perhaps it felt like the hottest day.

[skywatch]

I've decided to join this forum and have an opinion too on this topic.

If I understand correctly, it was NIWA who issued a statement yesterday and the media then issued their information from that point on.
If a source such as NIWA is incorrect, who is to blame?

It was the highest temperature recorded at Whenuapai and if 33.1 degrees was recorded at Henderson 11 years ago, can you please tell me what official site that is? NIWA said it was the highest temperature since records began initially for the Auckland region(moreso Whenuapai).

It was hot whatever way you look at it. I think it's great that the media are interested cos so many people talk about the weather. So much better than years ago when it was all just scientific and dull and boring.I say bring it on!!

Skywatch

[NZstorm]

The Henderson site is a long established NIWA site. So I would expect NIWA to quote the Henderson reading as the record.

The night time temperatures certainly have been warm and I see the Airport got a new record min yesterday of 22.1C

[Manukau heads obs]

who is to blame?

the media is to blame by stretching the information
i.e by saying it was aucklands hottest day...when it should have just said it was Whenuapai's hottest day (i.e areas to the NNW of Auckland city)

[skywatch]

I agree that the media is often sensationalising information or creating headlines etc etc.

I also believe on this occasion that they were in the right, as NIWA said it was Aucklands hottest day since 1872 at the Auckland Domain.
TVOne last night also quoted NIWA as the source for Aucklands hottest day

One problem I think is when the media do get it right and only follow facts, they won't be believed, as so much exaggeration has gone on beforehand.

Shame really.

[Manukau heads obs]

I cant see how the auckland domain (what is the value quoted?) had its hottest day either, when other stations in the central auckland area did not get to 30C
someone in Niwa was not getting their figures correct?
normaly TV1 uses the aiport for max temp?
but last night they did not....(the aiport only had 28 or so yesterday)

[TonyT]

I think it's great that the media are interested cos so many people talk about the weather. So much better than years ago when it was all just scientific and dull and boring.I say bring it on!!

Skywatch

Yeah, bugger science, lets just make up whatever we like and say its true. Wear a flowery short and wink at the camera, much more fun than reality.

[spwill]

normaly TV1 uses the aiport for max temp?

I believe they also use Whenuapai and Whangaparaoa.

[Manukau heads obs]

so TV1 uses the max temp from any site around the auckland area on the day?

anyway, it was a very interesting day none the less because of the differing zones of hotter and higher DP air and cloud cover across the west/east as the front moved through

also I see someone said it was a fohn affect from the waitak ranges that gave the high temps to the NW of auckland?
but the wind direction was NNE at the time...which was not from the waitak ranges
i think the reason comes down to NNE from the area that got the highest temperatures takes you across land all the way up to bream head....and that was land that had sunshine on it...i.e warkworth, wellsford and all the hills in that area...
auckland city it self and areas further east, i.e howick, NNE takes you out over the hauraki gulf....instead....

[RWood]

Yes, I understand TV1's trick - sucking up to parochialism - is to use the highest observed temperature from a number of sites - and not just in the case of Auckland.

I think the Henderson reading of 33.1C was simply overlooked by NIWA when the report was made. It could all have been done more accurately by quoting a number and inserting something like "....among any of the sites in the greater Auckland area...".

at TonyT's remark!

[skywatch]

Thats ok...bit of fun!

[spwill]

Yes, I understand TV1's trick - sucking up to parochialism - is to use the highest observed temperature from a number of sites - and not just in the case of Auckland.

I believe they use the best of the three but all three sites are city fringe and exposed to the southwesterlies. In spring the likes of Takapuna, St Heliers or City would be warmer.

[Nev]

It would appear that TVNZ, News-talk ZB and the NZ Herald all seem to share a common news source, which might help explain the repeated error of citing of the Auckland Domain, rather than Albert Park, with regard to Akld's oldest records. I also suspect that Jim Salinger was put on the spot when queried, hadn't properly checked all their data-bases, and may have even been slightly misquoted. Although Radio NZ decided to run with a similar story, they also had the forethought to quote Jim Salinger as saying...

... temperatures are taken at various locations throughout the city and it is possible information on Friday will show that the 1872 record has been surpassed.

I think that to say that it was Auckland's hottest day, citing just one very incomplete site, is almost an insult to the memory of the extreme 'heat-wave' that all of Akld endured (amongst other places) around early Feb in 1998. Think back to the time of Akld's worst major power-outages. In the 11 days from Jan 30th to Feb 9th, that same Henderson, River Park site recorded rounded 30-plus temps on 10 days, as did the North Shore; Ardmore also recorded 6 days, Pukekohe 3 days, Mangere and Owairaka 2 days, and Auckland Aero and Wiri 1 day.

Yesterday's set-up however was probably more akin to Jan 16th and 19th/20th of Jan, 1999, when similar NE winds saw rounded 30-plus temps at Henderson (River Park) and also at Ardmore Aerodrome.

Whenuapai records only seem to exist from 1945 to 1993 and from 2005 to now. I wonder what they would have recorded in 1998 and 1999?

[Michael]

the German site gave Auckland as 28°,followed as second behind Napier on 30°.
http://www.meteo.uni-koeln.de/meteo.php?show=En_We_Wk

[skywatch]

In response to Nev and what was posted earlier...

"I also suspect that Jim Salinger was put on the spot when queried, hadn't properly checked all their data-bases, and may have even been slightly misquoted. Although Radio NZ decided to run with a similar story, they also had the forethought to quote Jim Salinger as saying...
... temperatures are taken at various locations throughout the city and it is possible information on Friday will show that the 1872 record has been surpassed."

I think you are being rather pc with your comments here and show some bias towards scientists and don't give a balanced argument ( and I know you're not the only one). I have worked with meteorologists and the media.

There are rights and wrongs on both sides from my experience but both do their best and I think the media seem to be given a hard time on this site when it isn't always necessary perhaps.

[Michael]

The temperature here did go up about an hour before the front here between when the NE died out and the NW got gusty,(the highest) at 30 about 6pm from earlier in the day.

[Razor]

Typical One Auckland News media scrum... it really means at the end of the day media weather reports have little credibility

Using that logic they should have listed Christchruch at 40 degrees a few weeks back, instead of 36

[Manukau heads obs]

it would have been all OK if right from the start the media had simply said, "some parts of the auckland area received their hottest temperatures on record today"
I think that would have pleased the masses
or something along those lines
(as was quickly pointed out on this forum as soon as the news broke, to note, that it was just a record for that particular location)

[TonyT]

In response to Nev and what was posted earlier...

"I also suspect that Jim Salinger was put on the spot when queried, hadn't properly checked all their data-bases, and may have even been slightly misquoted. Although Radio NZ decided to run with a similar story, they also had the forethought to quote Jim Salinger as saying...
... temperatures are taken at various locations throughout the city and it is possible information on Friday will show that the 1872 record has been surpassed."

I think you are being rather pc with your comments here and show some bias towards scientists and don't give a balanced argument ( and I know you're not the only one). I have worked with meteorologists and the media.

There are rights and wrongs on both sides from my experience but both do their best and I think the media seem to be given a hard time on this site when it isn't always necessary perhaps.

What utter rubbish. The media have done a shoddy job with lazy journalism on this issue. PC enough for you?

[David]

Yes I agree Tony. Now we have a whole lot of Aucklanders spouting about the 'supposed' hottest day ever. Sigh

[Myself]

also I see someone said it was a fohn affect from the waitak ranges that gave the high temps to the NW of auckland?
but the wind direction was NNE at the time...which was not from the waitak ranges

Regardless, even were it from the Waitakeres, the idea of a foehn effect of a range like that is not correct. Where on earth did that rumour sprout from?
You are highly unlikely to get a foehn effect from a range of approximately 400m high. Most surface air parcels would not even reach their LCL by that point.
Pffff.....I guess this is more media crap to add to the ever growing pile of weather bombs (arbitrarily denoting any severe weather), mini tornadoes and the difference between an ex-TC and a TC.

[davida]

I seem to remember that Auckland's hottest day was in Henderson in 1998, but I could be wrong about that. I remember that whole week was oven like.
Actually Middlemore Golf Course might have had the edge that week.
As for yesterday, I e-mailed NIWA:
"I do not have the figure you wanted. For some reason we are not getting the complete set of 24 hourly records from the ARC sites. Our Auckland field staff have been asked to investigate".
They also said that the close by Lincoln Road station has been down since October 2008.
However, lets remember that temperature alone does not represent the "felt" heat. Add on %RH and wind chill also.

[Tornado Tim]

Welcome to the Davida, Another David from Aucky I presume?
Anyway good to get going with a good discussion about the high temps in Auckland..