General January Weather

[Razor]

Hoping for some decent rain this evening but it looks very patchy on radar. 24mm month to date so getting a bit dry.

Well it's ruining the cricket final at Eden Park while it's 30degree sunshine here. Why do they bother scheduling cricket in Auckland, rain every time

[spwill]

Hoping for some decent rain this evening but it looks very patchy on radar. 24mm month to date so getting a bit dry.

Well it's ruining the cricket final at Eden Park while it's 30degree sunshine here. Why do they bother scheduling cricket in Auckland, rain every time

But it is usually 15C in Chch.
There has been enough rain to stop cricket but not enough for the garden. Some thunderstorm activity to the SW earlier

[Razor]

But it is usually 15C in Chch.

I take exception to that!

[NZ Thunderstorm Soc]

Some thunderstorm activity to the SW earlier

Possibly the same activity that resulted in the early finish of the Simple Minds concert in Hamilton?
Fine day here but increasing middle range cloud in the afternoon with light southerly winds. 23.7C for today.

[spwill]

There is always some event on this time of year so chances are any rain will annoy someone
Who won the cricket in the end?

[Razor]

There is always some event on this time of year so chances are any rain will annoy someone
Who won the cricket in the end?

The rain did. Washout.

[spwill]

Some thunderstorm activity to the SW earlier

Possibly the same activity that resulted in the early finish of the Simple Minds concert in Hamilton?

Not looking good for the Gibston Valley Winery concert this Saturday, Simple Minds are playing there this Saturday.

[NZ Thunderstorm Soc]

A fine blue dome day with a few Cu clouds around and light southerly winds. much cooler and only reaching 22.5C

[Orion]

Noticing some unusual cloud-forms today, a mix of high windswept mares' tails and mackerel sky this morning and just now, might be a pretty sunset.

Has been sunny and up to around 28°C today, then a southeasterly breeze cooling things down.
20.3°C now.

[David]

Got to 28.7C here just after 12.30pm before some cloudy areas moved in - another one of those potential 30C days if everything had lined up perfectly...

Looking very warm again tomorrow too.

[mikestormchaser]

Noticing some unusual cloud-forms today, a mix of high windswept mares' tails and mackerel sky this morning and just now, might be a pretty sunset.

Has been sunny and up to around 28°C today, then a southeasterly breeze cooling things down.
20.3°C now.

I noticed this mid level instability this morning too Orion
Looked cool when driving to work, mainly over the plains. Nice mammatus under the alto cumulus

[NZ Thunderstorm Soc]

Didn't notice those clouds from here but anyway it was a fine day until later this afternoon when it turned more southerly with some harmless cloud moving across. Today's maximum was 26.1C.

[spwill]

Aucklands January temperature average will be close to min 18C, max 26C.

[David]

My station just reached 27C as of 10.40am. Definite 30C potential today if conditions hold, currently blue skies with a light southerly flow

[David]

Ah classic… every time it’s getting near to hitting 30 clouds go in front of the sun and it drops back. Got close though - 29.8 near 1pm! Highest I’ve recorded in the last 4 years

[spwill]

Grey Lynn reaching 30C.
Our best January in recent years was 2022, Auckland aero average max, 26.2C, average min 16.9C, rain 9mm, sunshine 308hrs, see how this one compares.

[cbm]

Ah classic… every time it’s getting near to hitting 30 clouds go in front of the sun and it drops back. Got close though - 29.8 near 1pm! Highest I’ve recorded in the last 4 years

Can happen for first time in the day as late as 6pm, as long as wind direction does not change still quite a high chance. No clouds here, 30.4 just now after 31.9 yesterday. My sensor is well elevated and screened but of all wind directions is the most sheltered in a Southerly which might be adding a degree or two.

Sent from my SM-S908E using Tapatalk

[David]

Ah classic… every time it’s getting near to hitting 30 clouds go in front of the sun and it drops back. Got close though - 29.8 near 1pm! Highest I’ve recorded in the last 4 years

Can happen for first time in the day as late as 6pm, as long as wind direction does not change still quite a high chance. No clouds here, 30.4 just now after 31.9 yesterday. My sensor is well elevated and screened but of all wind directions is the most sheltered in a Southerly which might be adding a degree or two.

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High temperatures are usually before 3pm here. A lot of cloud bubbling up now so I’d be surprised if it gets any higher, got to 29.9 - soooo close

[David]

Well I’ll eat my hat I guess

Clouds cleared up for a good period and it made it to 30.1

[JP.]

Are there any websites that have stats on windrun? I used to love Jeffs station here in Christchurch, I'm interested because I feel Dec and Jan have been quite a bit windier than past few summers. Especially the Nor easterly

[Storm Struck]

Are there any websites that have stats on windrun? I used to love Jeffs station here in Christchurch, I'm interested because I feel Dec and Jan have been quite a bit windier than past few summers. Especially the Nor easterly

Last year we had more NE winds due to more of the La Nina, however the NE has been a lot more consistently stronger than it usually is.
We've had quite a few days of very strong NE, there was a day I think last week where Sugarloaf recorded a gust at 89kmh.
Should be an increase in NW winds than of the past few summers though so far anyway.

Friday and Saturday still looking unstable, would be good to get a decent dollop of rain too as everything is super dry and crunchy under foot now.
The Waitaha region moves into a fire ban as of tomorrow.

Monday also looks very hot, perhaps challenging 34 to 35C.

[NZ Thunderstorm Soc]

Foggy overnight and early this morning, clearing away and becoming a partly cloudy day with light winds.
Some cloud forms along the foothills this afternoon but nothing much of interest. 25.3C for today.

[David]

The third warmest January in my records, mean temp 21.1 (beaten by 21.3 in Jan 2022 and 21.9 in Jan 2018).

Mean daily min 16.9C and mean daily max 25.9C.

33mm rainfall for the month.

[Nev]

Well I’ll eat my hat I guess

Clouds cleared up for a good period and it made it to 30.1

I see Whangaparaoa also managed 30.6C yesterday (Jan 31).
It's only breached 30.0C twice before in its brief 24 year history - 30.5C on 07 Feb 2017 and 30.1C on 20 Feb 2020.

[Nev]

A very warm January overall, except for southern Westland. Also fairly wet for the West Coast and central and eastern parts of the North Island, but otherwise relatively dry elsewhere. Also noticeably cloudy in Northland.

MetService January 2024 Brief Summary - A dry, hot start to 2024 but a return of wetter patterns from mid-month

Hot days and muggy nights, alongside plenty of dry weather this January, has seen soils rapidly dry out in the east from Wairarapa to North Canterbury, as well as about South Taranaki, Auckland and Northland. Further south, eastern parts of South Canterbury, Otago and Southland remain dry, but closer to normal, with fronts during the second half of the month providing useful top-ups.

Meanwhile, soil moisture levels were kept above normal across much of Gisborne and Hawkes Bay with persistent southeasterlies offering a very wet final few days of the month, these regions continuing to avoid any drought concerns for the time-being. The central North Island has been wetter than normal due to a couple sub-tropical rainfall events on the 15th and 28th, despite numerous sunny, dry days here too.

The west of the South Island has seen more regular frontal activity develop over recent weeks, and the first Red heavy rain warning of the year was issued for the Westland on the 18/19th. 400 to 650mm was recorded in the ranges over 48 hours, causing river levels to spike both sides of the Alps.

A Southern Ocean front brought a cool change from the 22nd, with overnight minimum temperatures dropping to the low single digits in some parts of southern NZ, this an abrupt and rare blip in an otherwise notably warm month for most.

Jan 2024 Climate Anomaly Maps ℅ NIWA.png

Preliminary stats for the main centres:

Code: Select all

Jan 2024 Average Temps, Rainfall, Sunshine and departures from 1981-2010 normals ℅ NIWA

Site                     T-max °C      T-min °C      T-mean °C     Rain mm      Sun hrs

Auckland, Mangere       25.7  +2.2    17.1  +1.0    21.4  +1.6     21   38%    277  115%
Tauranga Aero           25.6  +1.3    17.1  +1.8    21.3  +1.5     68   90%
Hamilton Aero *         26.0  +1.6    14.3  +1.7    20.1  +1.6     67   89%    243  102%
Wellington, Kelburn     22.1  +1.8    14.9  +1.2    18.5  +1.5     31   39%    265  114%
Christchurch Aero       24.0  +1.5    12.8  +1.0    18.4  +1.3     31   73%    297  130%
Dunedin, Musselburgh    20.3  +1.4    12.0  +0.4    16.1  +0.9     37   53%    230  126%
Greymouth Aero          21.4  +2.3    12.9  +0.4    17.1  +1.3    194   91%    258  124%

* Hamilton sunshine from Ruakura with 1 day missing.