Weather Watch: Extremes keep our Aussie neighbours on edge

Sydney's higher heat and lower humidity was definitely no worse than Auckland's 26 degrees and high humidity. Photo / Supplied

I've just enjoyed a three-day weekend in Sydney, part business part pleasure. One of my closest Kiwi friends, who works for a radio station in Sydney, was married on the city's waterfront on Friday. While it was more than 10 degrees cooler than the heat Sydney experienced the weekend prior, the 31-degree heat, which was also fairly humid, was intense enough to make even the Aussies complain.

The reason I mention Claire's wedding - which was the most beautiful and fun wedding I've ever been to - was because I had a real chance to experience that hot Australian heat and compare it to the heat in New Zealand. WeatherWatch.co.nz often uses the humidex, during extreme humidity, and every time we use it we get an avalanche of support - but there's always a few who say it's "out of whack". Sydney's 31 degrees with moderate humidity was definitely no worse than Auckland's 26 degrees and high humidity. But even though they both feel the same the heat crept up in you in different ways.

On that hot Friday, as we stood there dressed up waiting for the bride to arrive for the outdoor ceremony, the heat from the sun, and off the ground, was intense. Standing around was hard work but the kilometre walk from where the taxi dropped us off to the waterfront was a breeze. The shade was cool, the sea breeze was refreshing. In Auckland I find it's the reverse. Standing around isn't hard but the walking in high humidity really does hit you. Both Sydney and Auckland have actually experienced similar temperatures this summer - apart from the heat wave last week (although some in the South Island felt it for a day).

The "feels like" temperature which we calculate with the humidex formula spat out very similar temperatures this past week in Auckland and Sydney and while they feel the same they do have quite contrasting differences on the body - which explains why some find the 'feels like' temperatures "out of whack" and others - the majority in fact - find it bang on.

Speaking of Australia, the weather here continues to remain extreme. As we climbed on to the buses after the wedding the air conditioning was absolute bliss. The hot weather continued into the night until a southerly change arrived and both Saturday and Sunday in Sydney have been gloomy and even fairly cool - highs around 24. The southerly change yesterday sparked several severe thunderstorms and I can't help but think the forecasters in New Zealand have it easy compared to our Aussie neighbours...at least this summer anyway.

As severe thunderstorms and flash food warnings were issued for north western and inland parts of New South Wales last night Victoria authorities were saying that they simply cannot cope with another deluge as even more homes went underwater on Friday. Victoria and South Australia are facing some bizarre weather at the moment with some areas receiving both droughts and flood warnings at the exact same time - this was due to ex-cyclones Anthony and Yasi that dumped deluges upstream.

Meanwhile it's bushfires in the west, as well as tropical cyclones that are causing problems. And the northern coastline of Australia is looking at an increased threat of cyclones over the coming weeks, which may affect northern Queensland again - along with the risk of the usual monsoonal thunderstorms and downpours. The hard working forecasters at the Bureau of Meteorology must be praying for a huge anticyclone to set in for a week or two. I can tell you from personal experience that even while many forecasters are drawn to severe weather it physically starts to take a toll on your body after a while dealing with high stress in ensuring the forecasts and warnings are accurate not to mention the long hours that go with the storms. The late nights, the weekends, the all-nighters. Weather forecasting can be a little like a mini version of air-traffic control and certainly for those placed in control of official weather warnings the safety of people are also at stake.