KEY POINTS:
"Fool me once....shame on...shame on you. A fooled man can't be fooled again."
That was George Bush destroying a famous saying, which should've read: "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me". The reason I bring this up is because we've been in a settled weather pattern for several weeks now and some people have forgotten that winter is quickly brewing south of New Zealand. "Looks like winter isn't going to arrive" said one person to me.
After an Indian summer and a very quiet autumn many New Zealanders are possibly expecting a quiet winter… but that is about to change this weekend. Don't be fooled by the large highs over New Zealand… those winter lows are far more aggressive and will chomp through the anticyclones faster than you can say….hmmm…..I can't think of a funny analogy, but you get my point.
So this weekend – in fact starting tonight (Friday) we're in for a good southern blasting. The famous in New Zealand nor'wester will blast regions from Southland to Wairarapa and our Crown forecast, MetService warns winds might reach 130km/h. That's a good winter storm. Add snow and plummeting temperatures on Saturday and Sunday and suddenly those weeks of clear skies and light winds feel like a distant memory.
Snow will fall to near sea level this weekend across Southland, Otago and Canterbury… great news for the ski fields.
If you're traveling this weekend – by car, plane or ferry – check the latest conditions… you mind find some roads or airports cancelled…and Cook Strait's going to be fun with those 130km/h winds!
It's easy to get fooled into thinking that a long summer will mean we'll have no winter. However the Northern Hemisphere last year had an incredibly dry and hot summer followed this year by one of the snowiest winters on record for places like the UK, China, Canada and parts of the USA.
Anything can happen...mother nature likes to surprise us all. We had a dry hot summer and already we're seeing frosts to sea level in Auckland and Waiheke Island…very strange for so early in winter.
Still can't think of a good analogy!… feel free to email one if you can think of one! Enjoy the wintry weekend hitting the lower South Island tonight and reaching Auckland by Sunday.
