KEY POINTS:
January's over - and what a month! I have to admit - when the Herald first approached me about writing weekly blogs for them back in winter I was very excited to do it - so much to talk about! Then one evening back in early Spring a friend said to me "Phil, what happens over summer?". And I replied with "Oh there'll be heaps to talk about...like...droughts... and.....maybe a tropical cyclone..." a long silence passed. Then my friend said "Sounds pretty boring for the 3 months in between". I tried to justify weather news saying that "if it's going to rain then that's a talking point too". More like silence - and I failed to convince my friends that summer weather in NZ is worth talking about on a daily basis.
Well, I think summer certainly hasn't been boring weather-wise! In fact, weather has dominated the newspapers and general chit chat quite a bit over the past few weeks. Early January kicked off with a very humid spell over Auckland and northern New Zealand - many restless nights for those north of Taupo. January saw a heat wave hit Christchurch with temperatures climbing over 40 degrees in some suburbs. Also, a spectacular hail and thunderstorm blasted across Canterbury with thousands of strikes lighting up the afternoon sky.
One of the best electrical displays in memory (for some!) flickered around Auckland with lightning strikes every few seconds off shore to the east last a number of hours one night. That same storm also produced snow-like hail on the Kaimai Ranges bringing traffic to a standstill. Also, that storm created a water spout that flipped a launch near Great Barrier Island - with people inside it!
Unstable weather brought a water spout to Christchurch too.
We've roughly had one big weather event each week which has made it into the news - just proving even more that New Zealand has fantastic and exciting weather that we all love talking about not matter what time of the year. I was blown away by how many spectacular photos were sent in to the Weather Watch Centre (I think I mentioned that in an earlier blog). We received some of the best photos in the media - all taken by everyday kiwis like you. It really was amazing - and great to see the Herald using them too!
I guess the question now is - what will February be like? Weather patterns around New Zealand remain messy and unstable. Very large lows in the Southern Ocean are significantly affecting our weather (that cold change over the South Island yesterday for example, or the strong winds over Hawkes Bay). There's also a big change happening in the tropics with many low pressure systems forming - it's a matter of time before one drifts our way I think. There's also the chance (a good chance) of more stinking hot highs coming in from Australia - who knows, maybe we'll see more 40 degree days across the nation's east coast before Summer ends next month.
The next big thing coming up is Waitangi Day - starting from tomorrow we'll be updating our forecast twice a day at WeatherWatch.co.nz - and starting from tonight we'll also include our forecast for the entire long weekend nationally. Remember, our forecasts are independent of MetService - you'll find our Waitangi forecast here.
I'll update this blog again on Thursday morning.
