Editorial: Weatherwise these two weeks are the year's best

Crowds beat the heat at Tikitapu (Blue Lake) near Rotorua. Photo / Ben Fraser

Editorial

EDITORIAL

It was forecast to be cooler this morning, possibly raining. Is this a relief after the heat of the week? Or are we already missing the sunshine?

Letter writers have taken the Herald to task during the week for suggesting the weather was remarkable. It is just summer, they say, summer is hot, or at least it used to be. This has reminded many of the summers of their youth.

One or two others have scolded the paper for illustrating the weather coverage with photos of people swimming, sunbathing and having fun. This summer is nothing to celebrate, they say, it's another sign of impending catastrophe. Well, let's enjoy it for as long as we can.

It's not quite as good as last summer when there was barely a cloudy day through November and December and January had temperatures 3C above average, New Zealand's hottest month in 150 years. Last month was tracking at merely 1.4C above average so why the fuss?

This weekend is right in the middle of the most reliably warm fortnight in an Auckland year. The last week of January and the first week of February are the best for a summer event. This was the fortnight for the 1990 Commonwealth Games.

More events should be scheduled in this settled period. Instead we are reopening schools and children will be sweltering in classrooms, with a brief respite for Waitangi Day.

Chances are, this month will be as hot as last. Make the most of it. Its summer as it should be.