General March Weather

[03Stormchaser]

One of the best Easter's weather wise at Kaiteriteri this year. Esp considering the weather they had leading up too it.

[NZ Thunderstorm Soc]

Nice SW Arch moving across us at the moment.
Never seen a good one like this before although on the odd occasion there has been a weaker sort of arch moving up NE from the SW.
A bit difficult to photograph as it would look like a NW Arch, anyway

[NZ Thunderstorm Soc]

Nice and sunny now that the SW Arch has gone over, although there is some fragmented but boring Sc coming in behind
Might have some interesting pictures, later, of the fragmented edges of this SW Arch as it passed overhead on it's movement NE.

[Captain Salty]

a very long feature

[NZ Thunderstorm Soc]

Thanks for the satellite picture of the SW Arch movement today.
One of the most exciting features of Canterbury skies this year, so far

[spwill]

Little in the way of cool/cold air flow reached NZ in March, there was no significant cool weather for northern NZ in March.
Greylynn showing a temperature average of min16.1- max 24.7C

[Manukau heads obs]

running 1.5C above " average" here for march

[spwill]

Indicators do point to cooler flows in the weather mix as we go through the first part of April.

[Manukau heads obs]

with the tasman sea being way above average temperature, even a SW flow should be above average temperature..to a degree...

[NZ Thunderstorm Soc]

Convergence zone moved over ChCh today with some drizzle forming.
Nothing here though, but nice looking cloud forms.

[NZstorm]

The next system is inbound with humidity returning. The trough looks weakish but the top of the South Island gets heavy rain again!
Some weak mid level instability might produce an elevated storm of two.

Saturday could see a slow moving front over the North Island with convective possibilities? Dewpoint 20C for Auckland.

[Nev]

March 2016 was another exceptionally warm month overall, more-so in the last half, even though it was also relatively cloudier. There were also a couple of heavy rain events around mid-month and pre-Easter in Northland, Coromandel, east Waikato and west BoP, the NW of the South Island and Fiordland.

Mar 2016 Climate Anomaly Map ℅ NIWA.gif

Some very preliminary March 2016 figures for the main centres:

Code: Select all

March 2016 Average Temps, Rainfall and departures from their 1981-2010 normals ℅ NIWA

Site                      T-max °C       T-min °C       T-mean °C    Rainfall mm

Auckland, Mangere        23.9  +1.5     16.5  +1.9     20.2  +1.7      23   27% 
Auckland Aero            23.7  +1.1     16.4  +1.5     20.1  +1.3      27   36% 
Tauranga Aero            23.4  +0.9     15.9  +2.1     19.6  +1.4     145  149%
Hamilton Aero            24.1  +1.2     12.8  +1.8     18.5  +1.6      22   27% 
Hamilton, Ruakura        24.1  +1.4     13.7  +2.3     18.9  +1.8      29*  37%*
Wellington, Kelburn      20.6  +1.5     13.8  +1.2     17.2  +1.4      22   26% 
Christchurch Aero        21.3  +1.0     10.2  +0.6     15.7  +0.8      55  119% 
Dunedin, Musselburgh     18.9  +1.6     10.8  +0.6     14.8  +1.1      20   31%
Greymouth Aero           19.3  +0.4     12.7  +1.7     16.0  +1.1     231  130%

Milford Sound almost doubled its normal rainfall this month with an impressive 1100mm. While in the north, Whitianga totalled 255mm, including 119mm on the 17th and 66mm on the 24th. Other notable falls on the 24th included 92mm at Rotorua and 100mm at Nelson.

Here on Waiheke we totalled 63mm, 27mm of which fell in the 24 hrs to 9am on Good Friday (incl. some decent isolated falls in the wee small hrs). Otherwise fine for Waiheke's International Easter Jazz Fest.

[NZstorm]

Another impressive month for rainfall at Milford sound. It was over 1200mm in Feb.

[jamie]

Yep she's dry around here. Everything is browning off in a manner ive never seen before. Seems straight moisture stress and no heat stress. Different to a dry spell in the height of summer anyway.

[spwill]

Tauranga is having a cloudy wet year to date, you would have expected that area to be dry and sunny with a typical El Nino. The Avocado and Kiwi fruit growers in that region won't be complaining.

[RWood]

Looks like Kelburn's driest March since 1943.

[RWood]

Tauranga is having a cloudy wet year to date, you would have expected that area to be dry and sunny with a typical El Nino. The Avocado and Kiwi fruit growers in that region won't be complaining.

There has been an unexplained dropoff in Tauranga sun totals (by intercomparison with other sites) since about mid-2014. Probably a non-climatological explanation like a new fixed/altered obstruction in the "horizon".

[tunster]

Looks like Kelburn's driest March since 1943.

We seem to have a consistent trend towards anomalously dry, warm and sunny Marches in Wellington. I wonder if that's reflected in data or if I've just talked myself into it....

[RWood]

Looks like Kelburn's driest March since 1943.

We seem to have a consistent trend towards anomalously dry, warm and sunny Marches in Wellington. I wonder if that's reflected in data or if I've just talked myself into it....

It was warm and dry, but this March was actually about 15 hours cloudier than the long term mean and 25 hours below the 1981-2010 mean. But yes, the last decade or so has seen more than the long term share of the kind you describe.

[Willoughby]

Another record-breaking month likely globally to add to the incredible almost parabolic-rise in global temperature anomalies since December.

[Manukau heads obs]

at least now the deniers can not now talk about a temperature hiatus
they will have to come up with something else now

[Richard]

Wont matter how much data was presented, the deniers will just carry on ignoring the evidence regardless.

[Manukau heads obs]

Just read some letters to the editor in a farming paper...
real bad info by the deniers
this person still talking about no warming for 18 years
and says that artic sea ice back to normal...despite the winter just finished just beating the record only set last year for lowest sea ice extent

unfortunately the deniers talk absolute rubbish but people believe them

[RWood]

Just read some letters to the editor in a farming paper...
real bad info by the deniers
this person still talking about no warming for 18 years
and says that artic sea ice back to normal...despite the winter just finished just beating the record only set last year for lowest sea ice extent

unfortunately the deniers talk absolute rubbish but people believe them

Fewer and fewer people do believe them. They're getting desperate, trotting out long-discredited memes. Doesn't help of course that we have a certain idiot broadcaster who regularly parrots denier drivel - and trolls who do similar things on certain forums.

[RWood]

March 2016 was another exceptionally warm month overall, more-so in the last half, even though it was also relatively cloudier. There were also a couple of heavy rain events around mid-month and pre-Easter in Northland, Coromandel, east Waikato and west BoP, the NW of the South Island and Fiordland.

Mar 2016 Climate Anomaly Map ℅ NIWA.gif

No March summary has appeared yet on the NIWA page - late, or perhaps a web screwup ...?