First Major Winter Storm of 2019

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NZstorm
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Re: First Major Winter Storm of 2019

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Dean. wrote: Sat 01/06/2019 21:32
Simon Culling wrote: Sat 01/06/2019 21:08 This tweet on WeatherWatch shows a picture from Oxford ,Canterbury (which I think was taken on Saturday) with quite a few cintimetres of snow on the ground. Looking at the topographical map of NZ it lies at an altitude of between 250-300m and is about 50km inland from Christchurch. The lowest temperature at Christchurch Airport (from the METARS) in the last 24 hours of mostly continuous rain has been 6°C. That is a significant temperature contrast over such a short distance and altitude.

https://twitter.com/sue_gestro/status/1 ... 0185990144
Yes similar between Ashburton 100 metres and Methven 300 metres overnight 6 degrees here and 1 degree in Methven with snow 30kms apart
Yesterday the 850mb tempertaure (1200metres) over mid Canterbury was -1C, so the atmosphere was not unduly cold. But with the inland heavy precipitation events you get cold pooling ( isothermal layer) developing which brings the snow level as much as 600m lower than the synoptic freezing level.

A good reason why thickness charts are not necessarily reliable for forecasting snow.
Chris W
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Re: First Major Winter Storm of 2019

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The sting in the tail off this storm is some heavy, occasionally sleety showers. It is cold out there!
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Re: First Major Winter Storm of 2019

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BeaconHill wrote: Sun 02/06/2019 00:38 Wellington is having one of those classic ‘chain shower’ setups tonight. Big squally showers interspersed with strong winds.

57FA3A5A-4BA0-4DBD-862E-A7F9285E45D5.jpeg
So far this morning, brighter than expected.
einzack
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Re: First Major Winter Storm of 2019

Unread post by einzack »

Can confirm that it was pretty miserable trundling round the streets of Christchurch this morning for the marathon. Rained during most of it, usually light with some haily bits but nothing too heavy. Wind was not overly strong, but very cold. So not a great combo for a marathon.
A lot of surface water, with it right across the road and footpath in several places, so only option was to run through it.
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Re: First Major Winter Storm of 2019

Unread post by Chris W »

Living in the CBD I parked on Armagh and walked home, after being out this morning. Made the 'quick' dash back to the car, only to be nailed by a full on hail shower! Makes me feel even more sorry for you hardy folks spending hours out there =D> =D> =D>
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Re: First Major Winter Storm of 2019

Unread post by kiwisk8er »

Sunny, but cold and windy in Wellington today. Was very windy last night, our security alarm woke us up at 12.30 am telling us the power was out. We didn't get it back on until 3.30 am apparently. Not sure if it was weather related.
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Re: First Major Winter Storm of 2019

Unread post by Dean. »

einzack wrote: Sun 02/06/2019 13:49 Can confirm that it was pretty miserable trundling round the streets of Christchurch this morning for the marathon. Rained during most of it, usually light with some haily bits but nothing too heavy. Wind was not overly strong, but very cold. So not a great combo for a marathon.
A lot of surface water, with it right across the road and footpath in several places, so only option was to run through it.
Yet a beautiful day inland
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NZ Thunderstorm Soc
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Re: First Major Winter Storm of 2019

Unread post by NZ Thunderstorm Soc »

...ditto
A view of the beautiful Valley, in behind Fairlie.
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Re: First Major Winter Storm of 2019

Unread post by snowstormwatcher »

Went for a drive to Tekapo today, light dusting of Snow down to around 280m near Fairlie around 15-20cm in Tekapo.
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Re: First Major Winter Storm of 2019

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132mm in total for the event here in West Melton, the biggest I’ve recorded since I moved here in 2013
Simon Culling
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Re: First Major Winter Storm of 2019

Unread post by Simon Culling »

Thanks for the comments regarding the snowfall in inland Canterbury on 31st May/1st June. The photographs suggest wet snow which would require a heavy fall rate to accumulate - and this seems to have been the case. I would suggest that evaporative cooling was the main driver here and the fact there was not much wind inland. With heavy rain, the air can cool quickly and easily by 5°C or so under these circumstances and this type of event occasionally occurs in the UK in winter. Meteorologist Philip Eden (who sadly died last year) provides a very good explanation on this link:

https://www.weatheronline.co.uk/reports ... t-heat.htm
Orion
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Re: First Major Winter Storm of 2019

Unread post by Orion »

Thank you for that link, Simon - I'll enjoy reading more of Philip Eden's fascinating articles as listed there too _b
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Re: First Major Winter Storm of 2019

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TonyT wrote: Fri 31/05/2019 23:47 Lightning continues. I spent some time outside as its hardly raining at all, and the flashes all seem to be intra-cloud, and seem to be scattered all around. Some are very close with barely a second between flash and the most hair-raising cracks of thunder which shake the house. Some are further away with deep long rumbles, and some seem to be to the south or southwest so I wouldn't be surprised if they are being heard in Rangiora/Kaiapoi or northern Christchurch.
Just got a call from Bob Crowder, who has a friend in Amberley, and said he had lots of hail with this storm and was surprised it wasn't mentioned in the media.?
He said that hail was on the side of the road for a couple of days?
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Re: First Major Winter Storm of 2019

Unread post by tunster »

snowchaser01 wrote: Mon 27/05/2019 19:54
Cyclone Tracy wrote: Mon 27/05/2019 16:29
=D> :lol: =D> shut down... well done CT. Certainly looking chilly in the coming weeks. My eyes are fixed on model runs....
This isn't twitter. Fewer smileys, guffawing and "shut down" silliness please.

SSW events are rare in the SH. They are rare in the NH too, but less so. They are broadscale, long-term events which show up on zonal means. If you set the criteria too weak, you'll find multiple "SSW" every single year when really it's just normal transient fluctuations in the polar night jet. Actual SSW events are not ambiguous and have major long lasting effects on the stratosphere across the pole (not just in one sector), and sometimes on the troposphere as well. See attached examples for what genuine SSW events look like in the SH. The 2002 event was a major event, the 2010 event was a minor event. You can see that in 2019 there has been no event.
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Cyclone Tracy
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Re: First Major Winter Storm of 2019

Unread post by Cyclone Tracy »

As stated earlier in another thread, the warming was moderate. It is apparent that over the polar region the positive temperature anomalies become effective immediately after the start of the vortex disturbance across the whole stratosphere. Consequence was the lowering of the tropopause.

Final outcome and comment - Australian Alps have the deepest snow at resorts in 19 years for their season kick off this weekend. Canterbury had 5 to 10cm down to 300m on 1 June.
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