Excellent Forecast

[NZ Thunderstorm Soc]

Yes today was one of the best winter thunderdays experienced here in Canterbury with continuous thunder and hail possibly one of the best thunderdays I have experienced here in Canterbury. I felt sorry for all the people who had hail damage, especially to winter crops from the hail.
Good on you MetService, you came out on tops today


JohnGaul
NZTS

PS. ...or should I day "Bottoms" !!!

[Dean.]

I can see why the general public critisise weather forecasters from situations like these,local radio stations forecasting thunder,hail snow to low levels for two days,and we get clear crisp days,I heard one station in Timaru today check with the Metservice to make sure what she was reading was in fact correct,the announcer was told the bad weather would arrive at midday,and the day continued to be fine and clear.

[Andy]

didnit get any rain let alone the snow, it was frosty this morning

There was some very light snow down to about 700m though.

[NZ Thunderstorm Soc]

It's the 4th cold snap scenario that MetService have got wrong so far this year ...BUT.. it has been sort of hard to predict ... AND .. it was obvious from last nights Sat pictures that the worst of the weather was moving off sea and out to the east. If it had been summertime it may of been a different story ...but to forecast thunder and hail at night time at this time of year for Canterbury , you have to get a real unstable air-flow like the flows in June 1996, and Easter 2002 of recent.

JohnGaul
NZTS

[NZstorm]

A bust day for snow....sometimes this happens. The cold air was down there but passed off south of NZ.

The charts for early next week look particularly interesting.

[NZ Thunderstorm Soc]

The air must of been quite dry, Steven, this coupled with the fast movement of the cold air to the east, like all the others.
The anticyclone, now moving over us quickly should clear the country and will give interesting weather again for Auckland with the developing new trough in the Tasman Sea (Theres some sort of pattern forming there?)
As I said if this pattern continues, more 'fizzer' cold outbursts for the SI
and 'lovely' weather for Auckland, look likely!!! ...pity poor Michael!

JohnGaul
NZTS

[Michael]

Its excellent today and tomorrow I may say at least but I guess on the W/E it be "your turn" with the cyclogenis near Australia,the moist northerly flow from the huge complex depression south of Western Australia and the map even showed surface WNW well north of Carnavon (which is 25S)