Weather Watch: Good riddance to Winter

Goodbye winter, hello sunshine. Photo / Kenny Rodger

Winter 2009 is gone - and good riddance to it.

I know I'm in a position where I'm probably supposed to be pro-all-seasons but I'm well sick of winter this year. Sick of muddy paw prints through the house, sick of setting the fire and cleaning the ashes. Sick of trying to dry laundry. Just over it all.

Winter this year just disappeared without much notice... it was cold, so very cold, then all of sudden it stopped at the end of July and most of us have seen a very pleasant August with temperatures reaching 20 degrees in several areas and frosts becoming a distant memory.

So spring is now officially upon us - sorry purists, I go with September 1st - and if you read the article in the Herald on Sunday I also support the idea of Sprinter...a new season that kicks in for August and maybe September for places like Auckland and Northland. It's not quite winter, it's not quite spring. It's sprinter.

I don't know if I like the name "Sprinter"...surely we could create something far more creative. Actually, truth be told, I'm probably more of a fan of sticking to four seasons but reducing the length of winter.

It should only be two months long. Then perhaps Summer becomes four months long. Wouldn't that be a nice feeling... December through to the end of March? Far more uplifting.

Spring seems a little aggressive this year - after kicking winter out a full month early it's already grabbing news headlines with those big winds yesterday.

Auckland was one region that never had wind warnings issued but probably should've with gales, sometimes severe, blasting exposed parts.

In downtown Auckland WeatherWatch estimated that gusts were reaching 120km/h thanks to the tunnelling effect of the high rise buildings... and the wind ended up blowing a window out, closing a CBD street.

On the Manukau Heads gusts reached 130km/h but the strongest gust was in Northland, in the Bay of Islands, with 145km/h at around 2am. I know it was 2am because I was still awake.

Adrenalin kept me working as I could see the gusts getting stronger and stronger. I eventually fell asleep at 3am and gave the reins to Richard Green who picked them up at dawn.

It's fun covering storms...I actually enjoy working late like that. You know you have passion for a job that you don't get paid hourly for and are happy to work several hours into the night.

Anyway, looks like I'll be able to get some sleep tonight - as will most Aucklanders - with those winds dying right back thanks to a large high. In fact, this week spring will kick off on a positive note for many with quite sunny, mild, days and winds becoming light.

Still windy further south although even South Islanders will see conditions improving later in the week. Overall, a great start to spring in my eyes ... and hopefully, from a weather watching point of view, a far more active one than last year.

Photo: Goodbye winter, hello sunshine. Photo / Kenny Rodger