Best climate in NZ

Alessandro · Unread post by **Alessandro** » Sun 12/01/2014 06:18

Where is the mildest climate in NZ?
Less windy?
Best regards
Alessandro

Bradley · Unread post by **Bradley** » Sun 12/01/2014 08:34

Definately Invercargill, very mild winters, warm summers and not a breath of wind all year round...

NZstorm · Unread post by **NZstorm** » Sun 12/01/2014 09:42

Kermedec Islands would be my ideal NZ climate!

Willoughby · Unread post by **Willoughby** » Sun 12/01/2014 10:13

In summer? Sheltered areas do very well. Alexandra, Wanaka, Kawerau, Whakatane...

spwill · Unread post by **spwill** » Sun 12/01/2014 11:19

Whitianga to Whakatane for me, ( coastal Bay of Plenty) the climate data tells the story

.

The highest mean temperatures are Northland/Auckland.
The hottest spells in summer occur in the inland basins and east coast parts of the country that catch the fohn NW wind.

NZ Thunderstorm Soc · Sun 12/01/2014 14:37

Bradley wrote:Definately Invercargill, very mild winters, warm summers and not a breath of wind all year round...

Oh yeah,

Manukau heads obs · Sun 12/01/2014 15:47

Motueka ticks alot of boxes

Storm Struck · Unread post by **Storm Struck** » Sun 12/01/2014 16:29

I agree Tasman Disrtict from Nelson through to Motueka, Golden Bay is good but can get some meaty storms from the NW.
This is where I plan to live one day in the maybe near future, loads of jobs in my kinda area up there and plenty to do in the outdoors.
Live and work where you holiday

sounds good to me.

RWood · Unread post by **RWood** » Sun 12/01/2014 20:49

Purely subjective choice. For me sunshine comes first, so I pick the Nelson-Motueka and Blenheim areas (not the faker Whakatane whose recent "records" make a nonsense of the old standings).

Manukau heads obs · Sun 12/01/2014 21:18

Motueaka is less windy than Nelson , for the NW wind
so thats a bonus
and misses some of the heavy northerly rain too (that Nelson gets)
(main rain is only spill over rain from northern westland)

snowstormwatcher · Unread post by **snowstormwatcher** » Sun 12/01/2014 21:27

Nelsons Climate is overrated. too much wind and rain from the North plus to humid in Summer. I reckon Tekapo Has a Great Climate. High sunshine in fact more than Nelson last year, plus its never humid and apart from the NW there is not a lot of wind. Winters are cold but I like the seasonal variation.

RWood · Unread post by **RWood** » Sun 12/01/2014 21:29

Manukau heads obs wrote:Motueaka is less windy than Nelson , for the NW wind
so thats a bonus
and misses some of the heavy northerly rain too (that Nelson gets)
(main rain is only spill over rain from northern westland)

Motueka is 25% wetter than Nelson, so the latter has a slight advantage for me, given sunshine is about equal.
Record monthly totals at Riwaka exceed 500mm, and the 2nd highest value in April 1957 came from persistent northerly airstreams. August 1990, the wettest for the site, was rather similar.

RWood · Unread post by **RWood** » Sun 12/01/2014 21:34

snowstormwatcher wrote:Nelsons Climate is overrated. too much wind and rain from the North plus to humid in Summer. I reckon Tekapo Has a Great Climate. High sunshine in fact more than Nelson last year, plus its never humid and apart from the NW there is not a lot of wind. Winters are cold but I like the seasonal variation.

Yes, Tekapo is sunny though the LTA is certainly lower than Nelson's - and the nights are pretty cold. Beautiful area though. Nelson's summer seabreeze is pretty refreshing and I certainly wouldn't tag it with the kind of humid conditions experienced in Auckland and Hamilton (eg).

Re sunshine last year, you have to reckon with the fact that Tekapo Aero is using an EWS, and Nelson Aero isn't.

spwill · Unread post by **spwill** » Sun 12/01/2014 21:58

RWood wrote: Nelson's summer seabreeze is pretty refreshing and I certainly wouldn't tag it with the kind of humid conditions experienced in Auckland and Hamilton (eg).
.

My Queensland friends find Auckland too cold in the Summer so humidity is a relative thing.

For me Nelson is too cold with 86.2 frost days a year.

Manukau heads obs · Sun 12/01/2014 22:03

Manurewa has a nice climate I have been told
lots of refreshing SW winds

jamie · Unread post by **jamie** » Sun 12/01/2014 22:13

Whakatane. It gets the sun and the storms. Or papamoa. I suppose that entire BOP coastline is a great climate.

RWood · Unread post by **RWood** » Sun 12/01/2014 22:46

spwill wrote:
RWood wrote: Nelson's summer seabreeze is pretty refreshing and I certainly wouldn't tag it with the kind of humid conditions experienced in Auckland and Hamilton (eg).
.
My Queensland friends find Auckland too cold in the Summer so humidity is a relative thing.

For me Nelson is too cold with 86.2 frost days a year.

I don't really care about frost - the highest sunshine tallies in the winter months in NZ are at places that get frosts, and that includes Whakatane. Much better that than higher rainfalls accompanying milder cloudier days.

Storm Struck · Unread post by **Storm Struck** » Sun 12/01/2014 23:43

I don't think Nelson really has that muggy heat well not the times ive been there, Golden Bay definatly does but that goes with the left over humid air that drifts across from Kaharungi National Park and the northern west coast.
Temperatures seem to average in the Tasman district in late spring to early autumn around 23-26C occasionally reaching 30-32C in the summer, I am not sure what the highest temperature recordings are for the bays?
Tekapo is too much of a dry barren dust bowl for me but that's a personal preference not climatic.

RWood · Unread post by **RWood** » Mon 13/01/2014 07:24

Storm Struck wrote:I don't think Nelson really has that muggy heat well not the times ive been there, Golden Bay definatly does but that goes with the left over humid air that drifts across from Kaharungi National Park and the northern west coast.

Agree.

Temperatures seem to average in the Tasman district in late spring to early autumn around 23-26C occasionally reaching 30-32C in the summer, I am not sure what the highest temperature recordings are for the bays?
Tekapo is too much of a dry barren dust bowl for me but that's a personal preference not climatic.

Tekapo averages around 600mm/year, a lot higher than the Alexandra area, and only slightly lower than Chch-Kaiapoi.

Living in a place that gets at least double the annula rainfall I would prefer, I always found the "barren" landscapes of Central Otago and the Mackenzie a welcome change from perpetual greenness.

Ideal (not of course realisable in NZ) - a Mediterranean or semi-desert climate with 3000+ hours of sunshine and at least 4 months of virtually rainless conditions.

NZstorm · Unread post by **NZstorm** » Mon 13/01/2014 07:33

If you look at the historical sunshine data there is not a huge difference in summer sunshine between Bay of Plenty, East Coast North Island, upper South Island and Tekapo. They are the 4 sunniest regions in summer but South Island has the edge in the numbers.
For example Blenheim 733hrs, Tuaranga 713hrs. (Dec/Jan/Feb)

03Stormchaser · Unread post by **03Stormchaser** » Mon 13/01/2014 07:51

Manukau heads obs wrote:Motueka ticks alot of boxes

That would be my pick.

RWood · Unread post by **RWood** » Mon 13/01/2014 07:53

NZstorm wrote:If you look at the historical sunshine data there is not a huge difference in summer sunshine between Bay of Plenty, East Coast North Island, upper South Island and Tekapo. They are the 4 sunniest regions in summer but South Island has the edge in the numbers.
For example Blenheim 733hrs, Tuaranga 713hrs. (Dec/Jan/Feb)

Looking at the old manual-era averages, Blenheim & Nelson have an edge over the other localities year-round.

spwill · Unread post by **spwill** » Mon 13/01/2014 08:04

RWood wrote:
I don't really care about frost - the highest sunshine tallies in the winter months in NZ are at places that get frosts, and that includes Whakatane.

Moving personal preference aside, less frost has to be better. There is less frost in the BOP and look at the average maximums as well.

Is Tekapo NZ coldest town ?

RWood · Unread post by **RWood** » Mon 13/01/2014 08:16

spwill wrote:
RWood wrote:
I don't really care about frost - the highest sunshine tallies in the winter months in NZ are at places that get frosts, and that includes Whakatane.
Moving personal preference aside, less frost has to be better. There is less frost in the BOP and look at the average maximums as well.

Is Tekapo NZ coldest town ?

Why "better"? Frost followed by sunshine was always preferable to damp mild days, for me. The BOP can get pretty humid, too, when you're considering summer maxima.

For Tmeans (1981-2010) only Naseby is lower on NIWA's normals, but Tmax is a different story. Places like Gore in the south come in lower, as does Waiouru. For summer Tmax values, Tekapo's numbers are quite respectable.

Referring to the original poster's question, "less windY" can come at a price. Try Taumarunui - notorious for fogs, and the average windspeeds are very low.

spwill · Unread post by **spwill** » Mon 13/01/2014 08:38

RWood wrote:
Why "better"? Frost followed by sunshine was always preferable to damp mild days, for me. The BOP can get pretty humid, too, when you're considering summer maxima.
.

A fine day without frost is better, Sunny BOP has less frost.
Does Whangarei have a better winter climate than Alexandra ?

With regard to the northern humidity, places like Noosa Qld in Summer, Raratonga in Winter and Hawaii are far more humid than here, these are places that Kiwis flock to for the weather.

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