General May Weather

[NZstorm]

Great shots spwill! I could see isolated large cb to the south during the afternoon but that coldest upper air wasn't quite making it to Auckland.

NZWP midday sounding. LI was +0.3

[Michael]

Looks as after 2 rather benign winters especially last winter were having the one this year if this current trnd continues just like the early 2000's.

[Myself]

Last year was hardly benign.
June was fairly settled early on, but had a good cold blast towards the end. July had that very deep low at the end, August had the follow-on which brought huge rainfall to many areas.

[Michael]

It was here Yes it was wet but it was only for June-August and the wind wasnt as strong as we usually have that often meaning gales wernt frequent.May and September were sunny.Plus we had a few lightning days which was more interesting than just wind blown showers.

[Myself]

Yes, May last year was exceptionally sunny from memory. Looks like this May is steaming in quite a different direction!

[NZstorm]

Plus we had a few lightning days which was more interesting than just wind blown showers.

Friday mornings front should be good for lightning over Northern regions (Taranaki northwards). Northland looks most in the firing line for thunderstorms. Hail will accompany storms. I wouldn't be suprised if a tornado gets reported from Northland.

[RWood]

It was here Yes it was wet but it was only for June-August and the wind wasnt as strong as we usually have that often meaning gales wernt frequent.May and September were sunny.Plus we had a few lightning days which was more interesting than just wind blown showers.

Depends on your location. Auckland had a much drier year than Wellington, also for the period June-Sept. For the actual winter Wellington was much wetter than average but also milder and sunnier. Public perception was skewed by an unusually high proportion of weekend rainfall (40% of the weekly quota!), particularly Saturday, when the sports grounds were saturated with early help from some autumn downpours and a comparative lack of drying winds in autumn. But the winter wasn't dismally cloudy like those of 1977 and 1981.

[Tornado Tim]

This looks rather interesting....
If the DP's were higher than what they were yesterday, Auckland may be in with a chance.

[Tornado Tim]

I am inclined not to believe this GFS sounding because I think there is more instability than the GFS is leading on for today, Fibrous Toped CB's are all around me dumping heavy showers, that doesn't happen with only 125j/kg of CAPE.
Dps are around 13-14°C atm...
Update: Just had a near torrential downpour.
There may even be a thunderstorm risk for waikato if the clouds keep on rising and DP's stay the same or increase.

[Vertigo]

yes, just had a large Cb drop a large load of heavy rain over the one tree hill area

[David]

yes, just had a large Cb drop a large load of heavy rain over the one tree hill area

A very heavy shower along Pakuranga Highway too.

[Philip Duncan]

Temp at 2pm: 13 degrees at Akld Airport, 17 at Whenuapai. That shower brought some cold air with it!

[NZ Thunderstorm Soc]

I see it was very windy at Jeff Northcote's place in Hillmorten today with a maximum gust of 898km/h recorded
Jeff are you still with us??
JohnGaul
NZThS

[roughrider]

outstanding day in Blenheim overnight low of 6 and a high of 19.5,slight nw breeze again

[Manukau heads obs]

was some nice looking hard edge cloud billows passing to the north of here at 4pish...reminded me of the "Universal Pictures Clouds"

[mikestormchaser]

I see it was very windy at Jeff Northcote's place in Hillmorten today with a maximum gust of 898km/h recorded
Jeff are you still with us??
JohnGaul
NZThS

thats funny haha.


Nice day here in Christchurch today, beautiful infact with hardly a breeze to feel.
Just got home before but not without seeing a big flash towards the west, must be a big storm over there.

cheers

[NZ Thunderstorm Soc]

Yes, Mike. Some spoaradic flashes of lightning over the Alps from about 9:30pm onwards this evening observed from here

JohnGaul
NZThS

[NZ Thunderstorm Soc]

I see it was very windy at Jeff Northcote's place in Hillmorten today with a maximum gust of 898km/h recorded
Jeff are you still with us??
JohnGaul
NZThS

I see that he must be still with us as he has corrected it

JohnGaul
NZThS

[Tornado Tim]

Cumulonimbus Calvus to my East and a Fibrous CB to my South, and another to the North.
Seems the higher Dp's are having an effect.
Update: 4.35 PM: Just had a torrential downpour, 2.4mm within 5 Min....

[Manukau heads obs]

yes, some great looking buid ups around at the moment
18.2C today, felt really warm after the recent cold spell!

[David]

Reached a nice 19.4° here (a heavy shower around 2pm slightly spoiled the day...), was nice going for a run while it is 17° this evening

[spwill]

Unstable looking skies today, dewpoints up to 14C.
Some thunderstorm activity around Dargaville area, Northland this afternoon and south of Waikato along the West Coast.

[David]

I see we are forecast to reach 21°C today!

[jamie]

getting some good cloud build ups over Horshamdowns. Just had one pass over and there were sporadic massive drops from it. It does look quite unstable just looking around. But i have not looked at any models for the last few days.

[Brassnz]

Beaut night here in the Waitakeres this evening. Lovely balmy temp, hardly a breath of wind, cloudless sky, ideal for sneaking outside to enjoy a quality cigar and watch the shooting stars in all their glory. Maaaarvelous.