Consider why it is cold in CH when it is cold there? It is a mainland effect, with cold winds blowing off the land in winter. The land mass to the west of CH is large so this mainland effect would be maintained, even without the Alps.NZstorm wrote:Hokitika Airport and Christchurch Airport have similar annual mean temperatures, so the net affect of the Alps on the annual mean temperature is possibly small.
Why does CH get hot days? Because of foehn winds blowing off the Alps in a westerly flow. Without the Alps, no foehn, so not so warm. I therefore expect the mean temperature in CH to be lower without the Alps.
Why isn't it similarly cold in Hokitika because of the mainland effect? Because it is closer to the sea and an onshore flow (westerlies) is more common there than it is in CH. If you only consider warming from the sea it SHOULD be warmier in Hokitika than CH. The reason it is not is probably the warm northwesterlies blowing off the Alps. Take away those warm down-slope winds and it will get colder in CH so I maintain that the net effect of removing the Alps should be a cooler mean temperature in CH.