Meteorological Society Of New Zealand (Inc.) · wide field and he had an international reputation for his papers on Southern Hemisphere at-mospheric circulation. The Edward Kidson

Meteorological Society of New Zealand Newsletter - March 2011 - Page 1

ISSN 0111-1736

Meteorological Society Of New Zealand (Inc.)

NEWSLETTER 124

MARCH 2011


Meteorological Society Of New Zealand (Inc.)

NEWSLETTER 124 MARCH 2011

PO Box 6523, Marion Square, Wellington 6141, New Ze aland

Please forward contributions to Bob McDavitt,

[email protected]

CONTENTS Page

President’s Report 3

Conference 3-4

Cyclone Wilma 4-5

Photo Competition 6-7

Summer 2010 2011 (NIWA) 7-8

Summer – in the media 9-41

Your new Committee President Andrew Tait [email protected] Immediate Past President Kim Dirks k.dirks@auckla nd.ac.nz Auckland VP Jennifer Salmond j.salmond@auckland. ac.nz Wellington VP James Renwick [email protected]

Christchurch VP Colin Simpson Dunedin VP vacant Secretary Sam Dean [email protected] Treasurer Alan Porteous [email protected] Circulation Manager Sylvia Nichol [email protected] .nz Journal Editor Brian Giles [email protected] Newsletter Editor Bob McDavitt [email protected] Wed Editor Peter Knudsen Hydrological Soc Liaison Charles Pearson c.pearson @niwa.co.nz

General Committee Jim Salinger [email protected] Mike Revell [email protected] Katrina Richards [email protected] Gareth Renowden [email protected] Duncan Ackerley

Views and endorsements expressed in this newsletter are those of the contributors and advertisers, and not necessarily those of the

Meteorological Society of New Zealand.

The mention of specific companies or products does not imply that they are endorsed or recommended by the Society.


President's Report A month or so after I started work at NIWA in May 2000, James Renwick (bless him) came into my office and said to me "Hey man, you should join the Met Soc! We're a great bunch and we have really stimulating meetings and you should be on the committee and, by the way, we need a circulation manager so can you do that too?" I was so fresh faced and eager that I agreed to everything - I mean who could refuse that kind of offer? Five years later I passed the circulation manager mantle onto Rowena Moss (who has since passed it on further to Sylvia Nichol) and I quietly excused myself from the committee and then got on with other things. Step forward

another five years or so and I'm back, surprisingly via not too different a mechanism that was used on me the first time (you would have thought I might be a little wiser with age?) except this time it was Mike Revell (bless him too) doing the cajoling and the job on offer was the presidency. I said yes, and so here I am. But who am I? I'm a principal scientist at the National Climate Centre (NCC) at NIWA, Wellington. I manage the day-to-day operations of the NCC, assisting the Chief Scientist – Climate on science plan-ning, providing decision support as a member of the NCC management team, identifying new research opportunities, overseeing website uploads and upgrades, coordinating speaking en-gagements, and acting as a point-of-contact for the Centre (both internal to NIWA and exter-nally). I also try to fit in some research. I specialise in climate variability and change impacts and adaptation research, spatial interpolation methods of climate data and the application of GIS and remote sensing tools for climate analysis. I'm also one of the lead authors on the Aus-tralasia chapter of the IPCC Working Group 2 Fifth Assessment Report (AR5). I'm actually very honoured to have been nominated for the presidency of the Meteorological Society of New Zealand and to have had this nomination carried at the recent AGM. I hope to continue the very fine tradition of recent presidents and to work well with the very dedicated and capable committee. I will also do my very best to represent the Met Society well as a spokesman whenever necessary, both nationally and internationally. Sincerely, Andrew Tait 2011 President, Meteorological Society of New Zealand

COMBINED AMOS/MET SOC Conference * Te Papa Feb 2011-04-16 Mike Revell reported this conference was the best he had ever attended. The excellent Wel-lington weather over the three days was acknowledged (as a contender for extreme event). 100 attendees from Australia helped raise the standard of the conference greatly. He said that he had received only positive feedback. . Mike noted the excellent work that Janet Symes did in making sure the conference ran smoothly. There should be a final profit from the con-ference of about $7000. It had been decided that due to the equal number of New Zealand and Australian attendees that this would be split evenly. Taking into account Met Soc support for student attendees, the net profit for the Metsoc would be about $1500


Press Release:

NIWA SCIENTIST AWARDED MET SOCIETY KIDSON MEDAL Climate Scientist Dr. Andrew (Drew) Lorrey of the National Institute of Water and Atmos-pheric Research has been awarded the 2010 Edward Kidson Medal by the Meteorological Society at the recent Extreme Weather 2011 meteorological conference in Wellington. The award was for Lorrey’s “Regional climate regime classification as a qualitative tool for interpreting multi-proxy paleoclimate data spatial patterns: A New Zealand perspective” published in 2006 in the Journal Paleo-geography, Paleoclimatology, Paleoecology. The judging panel considered this work to be both timely and outstanding in its quality. One of the judge’s comments on this paper was that it “recognised that precipitation, not temperature, is the key for understanding

past changes in circulation regimes. The key insight is that… weather over New Zealand can be usefully condensed into just three circulation types: zonal, trough and blocking, operating over four seasonal time slices.” The Kidson Medal award is named in honour of Dr Edward Kidson, Director of the New Zea-land Meteorological Service from 1927 to 1939. His scientific work in meteorology covered a wide field and he had an international reputation for his papers on Southern Hemisphere at-mospheric circulation. The Edward Kidson medal is awarded by the New Zealand Meteoro-logical Society (metsoc.rsnz.org) to the author of an outstanding paper published in a refe-reed scientific journal during the preceding three years.

Next Conference – Nelson Mid-November 2011. More details later.

A note on Tropical Cyclone Wilma (Cliff Revell) It has been claimed that Tropical Cyclone Wilma (January 2011) was "the first tropical cy-clone to reach New Zealand", a statement which has appeared in Wikipedia. This note at-tempts to place Wilma in historical perspective. First the question of when a tropical cyclone (TC) ceases to be a TC. Studies {see Sinclair (2004) and references therein} have shown that the transformation of TCs as they move into middle latitudes, or extratropical transition (ET), is largely determined by the nature of the mid-latitude circulation into which the TC moves. As a result there can be various outcomes (Revell 1995). The onset of ET can be defined objectively. Sinclair (2004) developed a crite-rion for onset based on thermal asymmetry. This would require diagnostic analysis to apply in the case of Wilma. However, onset can also be assessed from the appearance of ascent asymmetry in satellite pictures as inferred vertical motion becomes progressively concen-trated in the forward or southeastern sector of the system. Sinclair (2004) quoted some ex-amples in which it was found that this occurred some 6 to 8 hours before the thermal asym-metry criterion was met. In the case of Wilma it can be deduced that ET had begun by the time the cyclone reached latitude 30 South but the low-level vortex, slowly spinning down, was re-tained. As Wilma approached northern New Zealand, the weakening storm began to interact

with a jet stream to the south. Steep, sloping ascent of moist tropical air into the equator-ward entrance region of the jet led to torrential rain over many northern and eastern parts of the North Island. Continuing southeast-ward, Wilma moved into the region near 40 South just to the east of an approaching upper trough. This created a favourable upper-divergence environment for sur-face development and Wilma began to re-intensify. Within 6 to 12 hours it became a vigorous mid-latitude (baroclinic) storm near the Chatham Islands at which time it lay between the poleward exit region of an upstream jet and the equator-ward entrance region of a down-stream jet. The appearance of this double-jet structure coincided with the maximum redevel-opment. The behaviour of TC Wilma had some similarity to that of Gisele (April 1968) but it was much less severe. Historical storms During the last 40 years, over 50 tropical cyclones of various intensities have passed to the south of 30 South between longitudes 160 East and 175 West. Only a small fraction of these were severe fast-moving storms with almost straight-line tracks. These are listed in the ap-pendix. All of these storms, along with TC Wilma, were undergoing ET when they reached New Zealand waters. Several reintensified around or south of latitude 35 South. Among the most notable were Alison and Bernie. Both retained winds in the storm force range (48-63kt, 89-117km/h) well into middle latitudes. Alison (Tomlinson, 1975) caused severe erosion and landslides as well as damaging winds, particularly in Nelson Marlborough and Hawkes Bay. Bernie (Revell and Ward, 1982), passing to the east of the country, was associated with possibly the most severe southeasterly windstorm over the North Island since the storms of 1936 ( Littlejohn,1982). One of the most remark-able tropical cyclones to affect New Zealand was Hurricane Ida (March 1959). It was notable for its very rapid movement southward. Although Ida recurved to the southwest before reaching the country it approached closely enough to cause wind and flood damage in North-land (Kerr 1976). An extreme wind gust of 96kt (178km/h) at Kaitaia aerodrome still re-mains a record for that site. Conclusion TC Wilma was not unique but had two noteworthy features. Owing to the configuration of the mid-latitude westerlies it regenerated at a higher than average latitude. Also, for the area in which it formed the probability of a tropical cyclone entering New Zealand waters is less than 5% based on a 20-year climatology (Revell 1995). Appendix Ex-tropical cyclones which had tracks similar to that described in the text: Alison (March 1975), Watorea (April 1976), Bernie (April 1982), Dovi (April 1988), Eseta (December 1988), Fergus (December 1996), Drena (January 1997), Gavin (March 1997). Cyclone Bola (March 1988) behaved quite differently. References: Sinclair, M.R., 2004: Extratropical Transition of Southwest Pacific Tropical Cyclones. Part II: Mid-latitude Circulation Characteristics. Mon. Weather Review. 132, 2145-2168. Revell, C.G., 1995: A climatology of tropical cyclones entering middle latitudes in the south-west Pacific. Unpublished. Manuscript deposited with Met. Service of New Zealand Ltd. Revell, C.G. and G.F.A. Ward, 1982: Tropical Cyclone Bernie. Weather and Climate 2,2, 31-32. Littlejohn, R.N., 1984: Extreme Winds and Forest Devastation resulting from Cyclone Bernie. Weather and Climate 4,2, 47-52. Kerr, I.S., 1976: Tropical Storms and Hurricanes in the Southwest Pacific, November 1939 to April1969. N.Z. Met. S. Misc. Pub. 148, 62-64. Tomlinson, A.I., 1975: Cyclone Alison. N.Z. Met. S. Tech. Information Circular 148.


PHOTO COMPETITION 2010: Results

During the past year a modest number of 15 photos have been entered in to our competition. We thank all those who have submitted their images. The judges were Kim Dirks and Robert McDavitt from our Auckland committee and Cindy Schleier and Marianne Bosman of Boat Books. The theme was sky colour and indeed there was a variety of colourful skies presented, so that the judges needed three joint and huddled side discussions before reaching a consensus. The winning photos were displayed at the Extreme Weather 2011 Conference at Te Papa last week. On behalf of the Meteorological Society, I’d like to thank all those who willingly shared their time and effort in support of this competition; this includes those who sent in entries, and the judges who gave their time voluntarily. Also hearty ‘CONGRATULATIONS’ to the winners.

THIRD

Third Prize—a 2 gig memory chip plus a free annual sub to Met Society. Paraparaumu Beach October

2009 - Sue Holliday

Facing the iconic Kapiti Island, this image shows the western sky side-lit by the last red rays of a setting sun, reflected on the sea. The altocumulus cloud shows corrugations of a wind flow over an upstream moun-tain chain, possibly the Rich-mond ranges.

SECOND

Second prize: a 4 gig memory chip plus a few annual sub to Met Society.

Te Horo 4 March 2009

Neil Gordon

The judges were impressed with the graduation for red to blue offered by this retreating cloud deck, and also the subtle ‘yin-yang’ of juxtaposing breezes. Neil also submitted a couple more photos into this competition which were mistak-enly overlooked.


FIRST

First prize: an 8 gig memory chip plus a free annual sub to Met Society.

Churton Park hills January 2007 – Peter Fisher. The judges considered this as a photo that could be treated as a work of art. The use of telephoto lens to cap-ture hill lines as layers, com-bined with the wait for an appropriately golden hazy day, combined with the quiz-zical single sheep; collec-tively produce a photo that stands out more than

most. Congratulations Peter.

Summer 2010-11 (from NIWA) Heat waves and deluges Temperatures: Record or near-record high summer temperatures recorded at many loca-tions in the North Island, as well as the north of the South Island. Above average tempera-tures elsewhere. Multiple heat waves during the summer. Rainfall: Several deluge rainfall events during the summer, often associated with ex-tropical cyclones. Record or near-record high summer rainfall in parts of: Northland, Auckland, Coro-mandel, Bay of Plenty and Otago. A wet summer for many other regions. Soil moisture deficits: Summer started with drought in Northland, Waikato and Ruapehu, but wet conditions in the northern North Island eased the situation. At the end of summer, signifi-cant deficits remain in southern Taranaki, Manawatu, Kapiti coast, Wellington, Wairarapa, Nelson, Marlborough and north Canterbury. In Summer 2010/2011, there were more northeasterly winds over the North Island, and more northwest winds over the South Island, than is typical for the season overall. These northerly quarter winds ensured a very warm summer for all regions of the country, and several heat wave events. The summer was characterized by deluge rainfalls, often associated with ex-tropical cyclones or subtropical lows. A severe storm passed over the country on December 27/28, resulting in significant rainfalls, flooding and gale force winds for many areas. During January, three lows of tropical origin brought torrential rain and gales; former tropical cyclones Vania and Zelia produced heavy rain on the 18th on the West Coast, resulting in the Fox River bursting its banks. A low of tropical origin (which formed near New Caledonia) moved towards New Zealand on January 22/23, producing extremely heavy rainfall, flooding, slips and road closures over much of the North Island, north of about Wanganui. Ex-tropical Cyclone Wilma moved rapidly across the northeastern North Island on January 28/29, causing widespread deluge rainfalls, severe flooding and slips in these regions. And lastly, record-breaking rainfall occurred in Otago on 6 February. Summer mean temperatures were well above average (at least 1.2°C above average) for all of the North Island and in Nelson, Marlborough, north Canterbury and Buller, with records set at numerous locations. Elsewhere, seasonal temperatures were between 0.5°C and 1.2°C above


average. Several heat wave events occurred during summer, namely 18 – 22 December, 27/28 December, 18/19 January and 2 – 7 February. The New Zealand national average tem-perature was 17.5°C (0.9°C above the 1971–2000 summer average). It was an extremely wet summer for many regions of the country, with summer rainfall totals exceeding 120 percent of normal. Record or near-record high summer rainfalls were ob-served in parts of Northland, Auckland, Coromandel, Bay of Plenty and Otago. In contrast, Ma-nawatu, Wellington, Wairarapa, Canterbury and Buller recorded closer to normal summer rainfall totals. Further Highlights: The highest temperature recorded was 41.3°C recorded at Timaru (Gardens) on 6 February (a new all-time record at this site). The lowest temperature was -2.3 °C, recorded at Tara Hills (South Canterbury) on 8 December (the 2nd lowest summer temperature on record there). The highest 1-day rainfall was 313 mm recorded at Mount Cook on 27 December. The highest wind gust was 172 km/hr, recorded at Mount Kaukau (Wellington) on 28 Decem-ber. Of the six main centres, Tauranga and Auckland were equal-warmest, Tauranga was the wet-test but also the sunniest, Christchurch was the driest, and Dunedin was the coolest and cloudiest. For further information, please contact: Ms Georgina Griffiths – Climate Scientist NIWA National Climate Centre – Auckland [email protected] Dr Andrew Tait – Climate Scientist NIWA National Climate Centre – Wellington [email protected] Acknowledgement of NIWA as the source is required. Full details are at http://www.niwa.co.nz/__data/assets/pdf_file/0009/109647/Climate-summary-Summer-2010_2011.pdf

Due to Christchurch damaging quake on 22 February, Ben Tichborne, who is compiler of our

seasonal weather events and Christchurch weather notes, has been without access to his com-

puters for a few months and so is unable to supply a Summer Review for this newsletter. He is

getting back on his feet and hopes to have things back to normal for the next newsletter.


Weather in the media La Nina brings scorching summer Records broken around the country STACEY WOOD - The Dominion Post 03/12/2010 http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/4418027/La-Nina-brings-scorching-summerShare

ANDREW GORRIE/The Dominion Post Rongotai College pupils Jack Manners, 16, and Joseph Wesney, 15, relished the end of their NCEA exams with a swim yesterday at Worser Bay, where temperatures got up to 19 degrees celsius. CAN'T GET BETTER THAN THIS: Jack Manners, left, and Joseph Wesney get into the swim of things at Worser Bay after finishing their NCEA exams. Weather records are being broken throughout the country by one of the strongest weather systems in the past 50 years. An intense La Nina weather pattern has caused some of

the hottest average temperatures and lowest rainfalls on record. Weather figures issued by Niwa this week show November was one of the hottest and driest on record, and the pattern of warm weather was likely to continue through December, though with a bit more rain expected. Niwa principal scientist James Renwick said the present La Nina system was one of the most intense in the past 50 years. "The situation is reasonably un-usual." (abridged) Northern summer may turn wet - weather expert

Dec 6, 2010 NZ Herald http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10692500 Federated Farmers says history may be repeating itself for Northland farmers complaining about drought conditions, and if so, rainfall in the region early in the New Year may be above average. "What we are currently experiencing is a pattern similar to that seen 21 and 34 years ago," said Federated Farmers president Don Nicolson. Northland farmers have urged Agriculture Minister David Carter to declare a drought after pointing to the past two months setting new records for low rainfall in many areas, with little

hope of any significant rain before Christmas. But MetService meteorologist Bob McDavitt has advised farmers to go back and check their farm performance data for 1989 be-cause "this La Nina is currently closest to the seasons of 1975-1976, and 1988-1989," he said. In 1989, January was so drizzly in Auckland that people became alarmed that similar weather might strike in the summer of 1990, when the Commonwealth games were due to be staged there. "There may well be a deja vu of all this in January 2011," said Mr McDavitt. (abridged)- NZPA


Drought declared in Northland Wednesday Dec 8, 2010 NZ Herald http://www.nzherald.co.nz/metservice/news/article.cfm?o_id=112&objectid=10692934&ref=rss

Agriculture Minister David Carter today declared a medium-level drought zone for all of Northland, triggering relief measures for farmers, despite meteor-ologists saying the big dry is following a pattern likely to bring downpours early in the New Year. "The situation in Northland is serious," said Mr Carter, who spoke to farmers

and industry leaders in the region today. "Even if there is a wet summer, as some weather ex-perts are predicting, this won't change the severity of the situation as Northland has experi-enced its driest spring on record." Mr Carter made the declaration covering all areas north of the Auckland Harbour Bridge despite Federated Farmers advice that history may be repeat-ing itself and that rainfall in the region early in the New Year may be above average. (abridged) NZPA

City like a sauna? Best get used to it By Amelia Wade NZ Herald Dec 15, 2010 http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10694394 The recent humid weather conditions made for a sticky day or two for people around the city. Photo / Paul Estcourt Muggy, sticky, humid heat - for most Auckland-ers yesterday the city would have felt like being trapped in a Turkish bath. MetService meteor-

ologist Bob McDavitt said the minimum temperature recorded at Whenuapai on Monday night was 20C, a record for that area at this time of the year. Humidity levels varied around the country yesterday, but in Auckland a high "dew point" reading left many with a day they would sooner forget. Mr McDavitt said the dew point measures how saturated the air is with water. "The higher the dew point, the muggier you feel. Auckland had a dew point of 21 degrees and anything higher than 20 degrees means that more than half of the population will be feeling

uncomfortable and too hot." He said it was too muggy yesterday for people to cool down the way their bodies are designed to. "Human [sweat] evaporates which makes a nice cooling effect to keep the body comfortable. However, when it can no longer evaporate because the air's so thick with water and the dew point is so high, it becomes very uncom-fortable." By Amelia Wade (abridged)

Farmers fear pending drought Waikato Times 16 Dec 2010 SUNNY SKIES: Hampton Downs share milker Jason Ham is one of many farmers hoping for rain after Waikato sweltered in its hottest November in more than 100


years. Waikato could be officially in drought by Christmas after the Government was asked last week to formally declare one, as farmers fear rain to halt a potentially devastating dry spell won’t arrive until late January.

Ruby red Hawke's Bay sunset an absolute gem Sat 18 Dec 2010 Hawkes Bay Today http://www.hawkesbaytoday.co.nz/local/news/ruby-red-hawkes-bay-sunset-an-absolute-gem/3933668/

A brilliant sunset, the view from the stage, during the carol singing, led by Bay City Outreach Centre, Hast-ings - HBS Bank Christmas in the Park, Anderson Park, Napier. Photo / Supplied So what was behind it? Light waves can be likened to sound waves. Lower and longer pitched notes (red light) penetrate further through the air than the higher and shorter treble frequencies (blue light). Think of red waves as bass notes - being the first you hear from a loud party or an approaching car's ste-

reo. Sunlight was red because it shone through a "much thicker slab of atmosphere", and the shorter wavelength light had been scattered, leaving only the red long wavelengths. (abridged)

Flooding in Taranaki as rain continues Sunday Dec 19, 2010 NZ Herald http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10695327 Heavy rain has caused surface flooding in Taranaki today, and Bay of Plenty, Westland and Nelson are also expected to get a dumping. WeatherWatch.co.nz said rain in New Plymouth had eased up around midday but there was still plenty of water of the roads as a result of drains

being blocked by leaves. The MetService has issued a severe weather warning for Taranaki, Bay of Plenty, Westland and Nelson, forecasting between 50 and 140mm of rain for Bay of Plenty, 80mm for Mt

Taranaki, 90mm for Westland and 50mm for Nelson. - NZPA Thunder clouds form weather bomb in Hawke's Bay http://www.hawkesbaytoday.co.nz/local/news/thunder-clouds-form-weather-bomb-in-hawkes-bay/3934537/

PETER FOWLER Hawkes Bay Today AND NZPA | 19th December 2010 WEATHER BOMB: State Highway 2 just north of Otane in Central Hawke's Bay, about 3pm Saturday 18 December. Photo / Paul Taylor A severe thunderstorm warning was issued for central Hawke's Bay and around Hastings on Saturday afternoon, with the sky as menacing as the warning of heavy, localised downpours.


MetService weather radar detected severe thunderstorms between the Ruahine ranges and Waipukurau. No serious damage has been reported as a result of the thunderstorms, but Hawke's Bay Today photographer Paul Taylor snapped this picture of the thunder clouds on State Highway 2 just North of Otane in Central Hawke's Bay.

Wellingtonians: Get the brollies out for Christmas The Domini on Post 21 Dec 2011 http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/4475097/Get-the-brollies-out-for-Christmas

CHRIS SKELTON/Dominion Post NOT SO MERRY CHRISTMAS: Santa's taking precautions for Christmas, and perhaps the rest of us should get ready for rain too. Santa and his reindeer might have to rely on GPS for navigation if this pre-flight weather test is anything to go by. With less than a week to go before the Christmas barbecues

are fired up, MetService is warning Wellingtonians not to count on feasting under sunny skies. Forecaster Bob McDavitt said it was still too early to assure people the wet conditions would clear by Saturday, with the first of three [rain bearing] fronts having arrived yesterday. "There will be a break, and there will be fine weather. We're just not quite sure exactly where." A clear spell would spread across the country after the three fronts brought rain, but Mr McDavitt said there was no certainty it would hit the capital in time for Christmas weekend. (abridged)

Dunedin the hottest place in the country By Rebecca Fox Otago Daily Times on Tue, 21 Dec 2010 Cooling off in the Outram Glen, near Dunedin, yes-terday are Lynsey Ma-caskill (14), Georgia Rau-don (14) and Kimberley Bates (13), all of Mosgiel. Photo by Jane Dawber. The temperature in Dune-din city dropped only to 19degC on Sunday night, and by 9am yesterday it

was 24degC - the hottest place in New Zealand at the time, according to the MetService. The temperature stayed high in the city for most of yesterday, reaching 29degC by 1pm. It dropped nine degrees by 2pm and then stabilised for the rest of the afternoon. MetService weather ambassador Bob McDavitt said another front on Friday was likely to be followed by a cooler and less humid southwesterly flow. (abridged)


Rain and wind hits the capital hard Trees down, traffic halted Dom Post 21 Dec 2012 http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/4481208/Capital-battered-by-rain-and-wind

LINES DOWN: A fallen tree on Tinakori Road halted traffic for some time. Blustery conditions in Wellington this afternoon caused a tree to bring down trolley bus lines in Thorndon causing a traffic snarl-up. (abridged)

Hot, dry, wet and cold: It must be summer

JEFF TOLLAN, ROSA STUDHOLME, GILES BROWN, OLIVIA CARVILLE AND NICOLE MATHEWSON - Fairfax Media The Press, 22 Dec 2010 http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/south-island/4484517/Hot-dry-wet-and-cold-It-must-be-summer

LATEST: Fallen powerlines have ignited a large fire in the North Canterbury town of Leithfield this afternoon. Coward said the fire service are currently attending 20 wind and weather related incidents around Canterbury, including small fires, roofs lifting, fallen power lines and knocked-over signs. Rolleston families were evacuated from their homes when lethal winds blew a grass fire out of control this morning. "A grass fire got out of control in the high winds and was spreading fairly quickly towards the town." Meanwhile, the Fire Service is using helicopters with monsoon buckets to help it fight a large fire in the Wai-mate Gorge this morning.

Flooded Rai River as seen from Ronga Rd. MetService has issued a special weather bulletin warning Cantabrians of rapidly rising streams and rivers as heavy rain falls in the Canterbury Alps. The headwaters of the Canterbury lakes and rivers south of Arthur's Pass are be-ing deluged with heavy rainfall with rates of 20mm per hour. All Marlborough roads have reopened after slips and flooding during yester-day's torrential rain blocked several Marlborough Sounds roads and State Highway 6 between Blenheim and Nel-


son. SANDBLASTED: Walking on Marine Pde was a mission for the brave yesterday. Gusts of 83kmh were recorded at Richard Pearse Air-port yesterday afternoon, bringing down lines, about six power poles, and cutting power to 3500 Alpine En-ergy customers over three hours. Timaru's temperature of 32.6 degrees Celsius was the MetService's second-highest reading yesterday, with Kaikora recorded the high of 33.7C. At Oamaru's air-port the temperature was 30.2C, the same as Ashbur-ton's. While Timaru had 54kmh wind that gusted to 85kmh, the MetService's highest gust reading came from Swampy Summit in Otago, at 155kmh. - with NZPA (abridged)

Lunar eclipse brings blood red moon Stuff 22/12/2010 http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/4481655/Cloud-may-thwart-eclipse-viewers JAW-DROPPING: Cheryl Irvine said she was "quite blown away" by this view from her window. The brilliance of a blood red moon during a full lunar eclipse was seen in some parts of New Zealand last night. The eclipse, where the moon turned red as its obscured by the Earth's shadow, began at about 8.50pm. By about 11.25pm the moon had resumed its full brightness.

Carter Observatory astronomer Claire Bretherton said the eclipse was the first total lunar eclipse visible in New Zealand since August 2007.

South Island: 100 fires fought overnight TV3 WED, 22 DEC 2010 6:07P.M. By Jessica Rowe http://www.3news.co.nz/South-Island-100-fires-fought-overnight/tabid/423/articleID/192083/Default.aspx

Hot air fans fires in Waimate Fire crews in parts of the South Island have had a hectic 24 hours, fighting more than 100 fires. And they’re not all out, as gusty North-Westerlies fan the flames. The same winds have also downed power lines and cut water to some Dunedin residents. The biggest blaze has been near the South Canterbury township of Wai-mate. The MetService says the winds have eased today, but are still strong. (abridged) 3 News


Rain, dry, then rain KIRAN CHUG - The Dominion Post 22/12/2010 http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/4483241/Rain-dry-then-rain CRAIG SIMCOX/Dominion Post A CAPITAL DAY: Wellingtonians battled near-horizontal rain and gales reaching 130kmh yesterday, and the zephyrometer in Evans Bay was blown horizontal. Holiday-makers heading to the hills for tramps and time out over the festive season are being advised to prepare for heavy rain. Though MetService predicts the clouds will clear in time for a dry Christmas Day for most of New Zealand, the days before and after will bring yet more warm, wet weather. (abridged)

Wind sends truck flying into another KATE NEWTON - The Dominion Post 25/12/2010 http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/4493797/Wind-sends-truck-flying-into-another TIP-TRUCK: Gusts of up to 150kmh tipped one truck on its side and sent it into the path of another on State Highway 2 just north of Masterton. Strong winds buffeting the Wellington region nearly caused disaster when one truck was blown into the path of another. The crash was one of a series of wind-related incidents yesterday in the lower North Island, where gusts reached 170kmh. Winds of 150kmh were recorded in parts of Wairarapa and gusts of 120kmh were hitting the Rimutaka Hill Road

at its summit. (abridged)

Snow despite the heat By Naeem Alvi on Sun, 26 Dec 2010 , Otago Daily Times http://www.odt.co.nz/news/queenstown-lakes/142252/snow-despite-heat The Remarkables mountain range on Friday morn-ing. Photo by Ross Lawrence. Visitors from the northern hemisphere should feel right at home this Christmas, given a glance to the mountains will show a snowy scene. Despite temperatures across New Zealand being about 2degC warmer than average, high-altitude

mountains around Queenstown were blanketed with snow in the early hours of Christmas


Eve. (abridged)

Wild weather moves north NZ Herald Michael Dickison Tue, 28 Dec 2010 Flooding in Rai Valley North of Nelson strands stock in paddocks and closes State Highway 6, Nelson. Photo by NZPA. Gale force winds are battering Auckland while storms that have hammered camp-ers in the South Island's Tasman region and lashed Wellington and the Wairarapa recede. Police in Wellington said they received a call every two minutes between 7am and midday today from people seeking infor-mation as the strong winds caused havoc in the city.

In the Tasman region, a popular holiday destination, crews are working to restore power to the Rockville and Bainham areas. The James Road bridge in Bainham has been washed away. Bainham is on the Aorere River, seventy-five miles from Nelson. On a brighter note, the MetService reported the weather system was moving quickly across the country and more settled weather was likely to follow for the first week of the New Year. (adridged)

Rising river threatens campers MATTHEW LITTLEWOOD - The Timaru Herald 28/12/2010 http://www.stuff.co.nz/timaru-herald/4497941/Rising-river-threatens-campers TOLD TO LEAVE: Campers prepare to leave after wild weather caused flooding at a campsite next to the Ahuriri River near Omarama. (abridged)

Rain ruins Queenstown holidays TUE, 28 DEC 2010 6:15P.M. By Annabelle Jackman, TV3 The rain and rising water levels have dampened spirits in Queenstown, where the town's monthly rainfall happened in 24 hours. As a result Lake Wakatipu is rising and authorities are warning of the risk of flooding in low lying areas. But there is some good news on the hori-zon for holiday makers. MetService says the Queenstown region can expect sun-shine and 20degC tomorrow. 3 News (abridged)


Auckland hit by gale-force winds By NZPA and NZ Herald staff Tuesday Dec 28, 2010 Rough seas around Lee Breakwater in New Plymouth. Photo / NZPA Gale-force winds are battering Auckland while storms that have hammered campers in the South Island's Tasman region and lashed Wel-lington and the Wairarapa recede. (abridged)

Windy blast taste of things to come By Michael Dickison NZ Herald Dec 29, 2010 http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10696926

Floods washed out an Arthurs Pass bridge and almost caught Nelson campers in their tents. Photo / 3NEWS

Yesterday's storm wreaked havoc across holi-day spots, a caravan being rolled by violent gusts and almost 100 campers evacuated just minutes before 4m floods swept in. Winds knocked down trees and power lines in the central North Island, blew trampolines and roof tiles in the air in the Wellington region, and swept off tarpaulins placed over earth-

quake-damaged roofs in Christchurch. Twelve-thousand campers arrived in blustery conditions at BW Camping in Gisborne for the

Rhythm and Vines music festival.Spokesman Toby Burrows said tents were blown down dur-ing the day as people struggled to get them up. (abridged)

Gales, deluge wreak havoc MARIKA HILL - Manawatu Standard 29/12/2010 http://www.stuff.co.nz/manawatu-standard/news/4499902/Gales-deluge-wreak-havoc

ROBERT KITCHIN/Manawatu Standard WILD WEATHER: After being caught in the rain,

Wellingtonians Taylor Rigby, 10, Jake Herbison,

13, and Jessica Rigby, 11, shelter inside their

tent at Ashhurst Domain.

A cold front sped through Manawatu yesterday bringing torrential rain and strong winds, catching out some campers But warm weather is set to return in time for New Year's revellers. (abridged)


Afternoon of windy mayhem in Hawke's Bay Hawkes Bay Today | 29th December 2010 http://www.hawkesbaytoday.co.nz/local/news/afternoon-of-windy-mayhem-in-hawkes-bay/3935472/

Trees down in Oak Avenue following gale

force winds. Photo /

Severe gale force northwesterly winds blowing through Hawke's Bay yesterday downed trees, signs, powerlines and threat-ened to remove a roof. The MetService yesterday morning issued a severe weather warning and indicated gusts of up to 130km/h would sweep through Hawke's Bay before petering off in the eve-ning. And they were right. Despite the wind and spells of rain both cen-tres hit high temperatures with Napier at 29C and Hastings at 30C.

Gales wreak havoc Nathan Crombie | 30th December 2010 Wairarapa Times Age http://www.times-age.co.nz/local/news/gales-wreak-havoc/3935601/ Holiday's Over: A Wellington couple escaped serious injury after gales near Mount Bruce Pukaha flipped a caravan they were towing, during a day of weather chaos in Wairarapa on Tuesday. Photo / Max Mayer Gales dropped trees, lifted roofing iron and wreaked road havoc throughout Wairarapa late on Tuesday. (abridged)

Rain sends campers to high ground JACOB PAGE AND MATTHEW LITTLEWOOD - The Timaru Herald 31/12/2010 http://www.stuff.co.nz/timaru-herald/news/4504355/Rain-sends-campers-to-high-ground WATER-LOGGED: A family holiday turned into a watery one for Rachelle Matthews, left, Ben Williams, 3, Maddison and Glenn Matthews, holding Isla Anderson, all of Wai-mate. Their campsite near Lake Aviemore was turned in to a swimming pool. The Met-Service forecasts that Timaru will reach a high of 18 degrees today, but Ms Sparks said the weather was likely to clear significantly for New Year's Day. People who were camp-ing out in the Mackenzie or Waitaki might experience some drizzle this evening, but it should be fine tomorrow. (abridged)


NZ weather in 2010: Whakatane takes sunniest record Stuff 12/01/201 GRAHAME COX BEACH WEATHER: Ohope Beach, near Whaka-tane. http://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/4532429/NZ-weather-in-2010-Whatakane-takes-sunniest-record

Whakatane in the Bay of Plenty has taken the annual battle for honours as the sunniest spot in New Zealand, NIWA says. It was followed by Nelson and Blenheim. Tauranga was the sunniest of the main centres. In their review of 2010 - headed "Settled and Warm" - NIWA says 2010 was the fifth warm-est year since 1900, with average annual tem-perature of 13.1degC. The four warmer years

were 1971, 1998, 1999, and 2005. It said notable climate features included two droughts, several heat waves, and three signifi-cant rainfall events. The warmest places were Whangaparaoa, Whangarei and Kaitaia while the coldest were Mt Ruapehu, Lake Tekapo and Mt Cook The wettest place was Cropp River on the West Coast, Doon and North Egmont. The driest were Clyde, Ranfurly and Alexandra. The year's highest temperature was 35.6degC at Cheviot on February 22. The lowest was -12.6degC at Lake Tekapo on August 10. The highest recorded wind gust was 217kmh at Baring Head near Wellington on March 12. And Milford Sound had the most rain on a single day, 314mm at Milford Sound on Anzac Day. The wettest main centre was Wellington, the driest was Christchurch and Auckland was the warmest.

Rare cloud cause of thunder PAUL GORMAN - The Press 03/01/2011 http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/4508494/Rare-cloud-mix-cause-of-thunder STORMY SKY: Instability from the embedded thundercloud in the cen-tre of this Christchurch Airport web-cam image from 6.40am yesterday has shredded the nor'west arch into a mass of roiling cloud. A thunder-storm resulted. The camera is look-ing northeast. MetService severe weather forecaster Allister Gorman confirmed it was thunder that had woken people. The unstable atmos-phere needed to form thunder-clouds was rarely present above Canterbury when warm, stable, north-westerly winds were also blowing. "It is a very rare event. A dozen lightning strikes were de-tected by MetService . (abridged)


Outstanding lavender harvest The Marlborough Express 04/01/2011 http://www.stuff.co.nz/marlborough-express/slider/4511226/Outstanding-lavender-harvest

Frolicking in the lavender are Leila, left, and Belle Cleland-Hall, of Christchurch Lavender grower Elsie Hall is expecting an early mid to late-January harvest for the gross variety grown especially for its oil. "If the hot weather contin-ues, the pointers are there for a harvest of exceptional quantity and quality," said Mrs Hall. Reasons for the exceptional

crop were rain that encouraged spring growth and no frosts at critical times, she said. Be-cause soils at the farm were free-draining, this week's rain caused no problems. The sheen had gone off earlier varieties grown in the cottage garden. (abridged)

Cherry crop badly hit by rain CHE BAKER - The Southland Times 06/01/2011 http://www.stuff.co.nz/southland-times/news/4515063/Cherry-crop-badly-hit-by-rain

Cherry stocks in Central Otago have been devastated by heavy rain. Predictions of a bumper season and record exports have been quashed. Summerfruit NZ chairman and Roxburgh orchardist Gary Bennetts said December rain dam-aged 500 tonnes of cherries. Rain this month had tripled the damage to 1500 tonnes. Ex-ports were expected to be the highest in years, reaching 3000 tonnes, but that prediction had been halved. Rain forced cherries to split and become unworthy for market.

Weather hammers apricots CHE BAKER - The Southland Times 07/01/2011 http://www.stuff.co.nz/southland-times/news/4518165/Weather-hammers-apricots

BEARS FRUIT: Jake Lucas, of Earnscleugh, sorts through ap-ricots at the Alpine Packhouse in Earnscleugh. Apricots in Central Otago are scarce after frosts, rain, wind and a lack of pollination early in the season. Central Otago Fruitgrowers chairman John Webb described this year's crop as "patchy". Severe frosts and the September storm had decreased the normal harvest of apricots from 5000 tonnes to 3000 to 3500 tonnes. Areas such as Cromwell had a difficult time at the start of the season, with hail wiping out a lot of the supply, he said. (abridged)


High risk facial eczema with La Nina weather 4th January 2011 Bay of Plenty Times A sheep with clinical facial eczema. Photo / File T this summer and autumn could be shaping up to be a bad facial eczema season, says Agri-feeds technical man-ager Andrew Oakley. Meteorological services are predicting a La Nina season for the coming summer and autumn and the records show that facial eczema (FE) is worse in La Nina years. Of the five La Nina years occurring between 1975 and 1999 [the last major La Nina year], four resulted in higher than normal FE occurrences. The strong conditions that oc-curred in 1999 were associated with - and most likely caused - the severest outbreaks of FE in many years, he said.

La Nina creates a number of different scenarios for New Zealand's various regions including more rain, humidity and cloud in the northern and eastern areas; more north-easterly winds; droughts to western and southern parts of the country and more heat (dry and scorching hot in the south and west, sticky, humid and muggy in the north). (abridged)

Lake levels expected to drop soon SUE FEA - The Southland Times 08/01/2011

http://www.stuff.co.nz/southland-times/news/4521272/Lake-levels-expected-to-drop-soon

FUN IN THE SUN: Ethan Townshend, 14, of Christchurch, Cameron Gilbert, 7, and Gabrielle Knapp 9, both of Inver-cargill, enjoy playing on a submerged jetty on Lake Wa-katipu during their church camp at Kelvin Heights. Lake levels in Queenstown and Wanaka were still high late yesterday, but with fine weather forecast for the next few days they were expected to have reached their peaks. Lake Wakatipu had surpassed the first flood level warnings of 310.8m at 310.921m by 9am yesterday, but was still well below the level at which flooding takes place. Lake Wanaka, had reached 279.293m, still below its first flood warning level of 279.4m. Clutha River levels were "extremely high" and of more concern – the river was flow-ing at 693.262 cumecs at the Cardrona confluence and at

1266.8 cumecs at Balclutha at noon yesterday. (abridged)

Humps raised on paths as heat causes popping John Cousins | 17th January 2011 Boy of Plenty Times http://www.bayofplentytimes.co.nz/local/news/humps-raised-on-paths-as-heat-causes-popping/3937167/

Photo / Supplied. Extreme summer heat is "popping" footpaths around Mount Maunganui and Papamoa, providing mini-humps for skateboarders but a nuisance for the council. Concrete expands in heat, by larger amounts than can be absorbed by expansion joints, causing footpaths to rise and pop at the weakest point. (abridged)


Boats struggle to cross dangerous Grey bar Wednesday January 19, 2011 Source: ONE News http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/boats-struggle-cross-dangerous-grey-bar-4002245

The Grey River is in flood and measured at eight knots today, bringing danger for two boats attempting to cross the Greymouth River Bar. The boats were rocked by waves just a few metres from safety as they attempted to cross one of the most dangerous bars in Aus-tralasia.

Many of the problems encountered by the commercial fishing fleet stem from the fact that their top speed is often about 8-9 knots. Then the current can be 5-6 knots. So, you're only

making 3 knots and you're trying to come in on a bar where the waves are travelling up to 22 knots. (abridged) Short, sharp heatwave sends them all troppo Jan 22, 2011 NZ Herald Paul Thomas: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/environment/news/article.cfm?c_id=39&objectid=10701184

Freakish heat had Wellingtonians doing anything they could to cool off. Picture / Mark Mitchell The heatwave that gripped Wellington….. was short and sharp, being confined to a single day, but what it lacked in duration it

more than made up for in intensity: the temperature soared to an oppressive 27C while hu-midity levels hovered around 80 per cent. MetService forecaster Derek Holland, a man not given to extravagance, conceded it was "quite muggy". As Wellingtonians began shedding all vestiges of self-control, one was reminded that the term "going troppo" derives from the tendency of people from temperate climes to become disori-

ented and ultimately deranged in the heat and humidity of the tropics. (abridged) Wet Wet Wet Stuff 24/01/2011 http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/4572485/Wet-wet-wet-but-weather-worst-over OVER-FLOW: Westhaven Marina on the eve-ning of January 23.


Damage CONTROL: Glendowie Boat Club lost one of its eastern ramps during Sun-day's high tide and strong NE winds. Torrential rain flooded homes and busi-nesses over the weekend and rivers swelled to dangerous levels. Auckland civil defence controller Clive Manley says about 450 homes remain without power across about a dozen Auck-land suburbs, down from 2000 homes. A search is underway along the Firth of Thames coastline in the Coromandel after a woman failed to return from a swim last night, while a woman suffering hypother-mia after falling into the Whanganui River from a canoe has been winched to safety

this morning. While heavy rain was still affecting parts of Taranaki, Whanganui and Tongariro National Park, the MetService said downpours should ease by late morning. The Desert Road, previously closed due to flooding, had re-opened, as had the Manawatu Gorge, which had been blocked by a slip. FLOODING FORCES EVACUATIONS Yesterday huge waves lashed the Auckland coast. Rising waters forced homes and camp-grounds to be evacuated, roads to be closed and events cancelled. More than 30 houses on Herald Island, off the northern edge of the Whenuapai air base in Auckland, had to be evacu-ated after flooding. In the Eastern Bay of Plenty, rivers reached warning levels over the weekend but they had now begun to recede, Bay of Plenty Regional Council community relations manager Bronwyn Campbell said. Up to 200mm of rain was recorded in 24 hours in the worst-hit areas of Taupo, Bay of Plenty and the Coromandel. The bad weather forced the cancellation of aerobatics at the second day of the Wings Over Wairarapa air show, and of the New Zealand Mountain Bike Cup downhill event in Rotorua. (abridged) NZPA

King tide 'lifted' higher by low pres-sure

By Isaac Davison NZ Herald Tuesday Jan 25, 2011 http://www.nzherald.co.nz/strange-but-true/news/article.cfm?c_id=500835&objectid=10701807

Looking west up Tamaki Drive. Photo / Ken Batkin

The tide which spilled over Tamaki Drive was a rare combination of weather phenomena which made flooding all but inevitable. Sunday morning's king tide was "lifted" by a low pressure system, and pushed by north-easterly winds into north-facing coastlines. In addition, the mean sea level around New Zea-land was already higher due to the La Nina


weather cycle. Any of the four factors (tide, atmosphere, wind, climate) alone may not have a significant ef-fect. But combined, they were the reason for flooding in downtown Auckland, eastern suburbs and the North Shore. A perigean spring tide, or king tide, is an especially high tide caused by the fuller moon and the close orbit of the moon to earth. On Sunday, it was predicted the king tide would measure 3.5 metres in Auckland. However, the low pressure system bearing in on the city may have raised the tide even further. The lower atmospheric pressure "sucks" the water level upwards. For every millibar that the atmosphere drops, the water level rises an-other centimetre. So on Sunday, the king tide may have been raised by up to 12 centimetres. While 12cm may not sound like much, when that higher water level is pushed by wind, it acts like loose sand, skimming across the surface and creating large waves. The effect of the wind on sea level is variable and depends largely on the shape of the coast. But in general a strong wind blowing onshore will pile up the water and cause the sea level to be higher than pre-dicted. By 10am on Sunday that wind pushed the tide over Tamaki Drive's seawall, submerging the road. In some places, MetService predicted that tide levels were 300mm higher than expected. Last February, the New Zealand Transport Agency warned that king tides would swamp the Northwestern Motorway. But because the king tide came on a windless day, the high water lapped on to the cycle way but went no further. On Sunday, the wind pushed the king tide on to the Northwestern, closing four lanes. The mo-torway, which passes over reclaimed land on the edge of Waitemata Harbour, has been gradu-ally sinking for the past 50 years. (abridged)

Flooding closes roads, severe weather warning remains

Sunday Jan 23, 2011 Herald http://www.nzherald.co.nz/weather/news/article.cfm?c_id=10&objectid=10701491 Kayaking on Tamaki Drive. Photo /

Courtney Agate

Auckland's Quay Street is closed due to flood-ing, motorways have lanes closed, there are slips in the Coromandel and emergency work-ers in the Bay of Plenty are on standby as heavy rain continues to batter the North Is-

land. Auckland's North Western Motorway has one city-bound lane flooded between Patiki Road and Waterview, with a diversion in place at Te Atatu. Tamaki Drive along Auckland's waterfront is closed at Ngapipi Road, as the incoming tide sends water crashing over the road. Police this morning said that part of Quay Street on the fringe of the Auckland CBD was closed, but noted that it was "only a matter of time" before the whole road was shut to traffic. - NZPA / NZHERALD STAFF / NEWSTALK ZB

Two storms weaker than one Stuff18/01/2011 http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/4550447/Two-storms-weaker-than-one The merger of two former tropical cyclones and a low that contributed to the Victoria flooding may help decrease the predicted severe winds for parts of New Zealand, WeatherWatch says. MetService has issued a severe weather warning, forecasting heavy rain and gales for most of northern and central New Zealand until tomorrow morning after ex-tropical cyclone Zelia with the remnants of cyclone Vania. A low is also forecast to move over the northern South


Island today. Zelia would pass west of Northland and Auckland this afternoon and evening, move over the southern North Island tonight and pass west of the Chatham Islands tomorrow. (abridged)

Now La Nina brings fly plague By Isaac Davison NZ Herald Thursday Jan 27, 2011 http://www.nzherald.co.nz/weather/news/article.cfm?c_id=10&objectid=10702284

La Nina has already brought us floods, cyclones and sti-fling humidity. Now it is also being blamed for greater numbers of flies in our homes.

Not only are there more of them, they are harder to kill. The warmer, wetter summer is behind the proliferation in Auckland of the common house-hold fly, which thrives in these conditions. Entomologist and "Bugman" Ruud Kleinpaste said high temperatures in December meant adult flies hatched earlier, and in greater numbers. "We've had a brilliant lead-in to summer so they've had a head start. This weather keeps flies alive nicely. As long as they've got enough moisture and compost around, they'll breed like, well, flies." ANTI-FLY TIPS Preventing flies in the home: * Cover compost. * Open windows on windy side of house only. * Clean up animal droppings. * Put screens on windows and doors.

Shepherd’s warning for Tauranga

Friday 28th Jan, 2011 Sun Live Proving the old rule , ‘Red sky at night shep-

herd’s del ight; red sky in the morning shep-

herd’s warning, ’ this photo taken in Bethle-

hem at 6am is an indication of what’ s com-

ing today. Heavy rain has triggered a severe weather warning for the region, comes from tropical cyclone Wilma that is north of New Zealand. The MetService says the weather system will not have cyclone status by the t ime it arrives in New Zealand. It is expected to bring strong or ga le force winds and heavy rain to Northland, Auckland, Waikato, Coro-mandel , Bay of Plenty, Rotorua and Gis-

borne. The heaviest rainfalls are expected in Northland where 150 to 200mm m ay fall in a 24 hour period. Rainfalls warnings are also in force for Auckland, eastern Waikato, Coroman-del Peninsula, Bay of Plenty and Gisborne. Also, heavy northeast swells and rough seas are forecast for eastern coastal areas from Northland to East Cape. (abridged)


Heavy rain sets in as cyclone nears

By Amelia Wade and Hayden Donnell NZ Herald Fri-day Jan 28, 2011 http://www.nzherald.co.nz/weather/news/article.cfm?c_id=10&objectid=10702774

A satellite image shows tropical cyclone Wilma a few hundred kilometres north of

New Zealand. Photo / Supplied

Very heavy rain is currently spreading over northern New Zealand and is expected to become torrential, MetService is predicting, while severe gales are fore-cast for eastern Northland and Great Barrier Island.

Tropical Cyclone Wilma was lying about 280km north of Cape Reinga at 6pm and moving to the south-southeast. Wilma is expected to be reclassified as an Ex-Tropical Cyclone as it passes by northern New Zealand overnight, but will still bring strong winds and heavy rain to northern parts of the North Island. (abridged) Clean up begins as Cyclone Wilma heads out to sea Stuff 29/01/2011 http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/4592082/People-missing-trapped-as-Cyclone-Wilma-hits-Northland

WATER PLANE: Clevedon in South Auck-land Saturday afternoon. WATER POWER: Flooding at Haruru Falls Resort, three kilometres inland from Pai-hia in the Bay of Islands.


YEAH RIGHT: A sign just outside Kaeo. BLOCKED: The main road to Coromandel is blocked with this slip at Ruamahunga Bay on State highway 25, north of Thames. DAMP CAMP: A flooded camping ground at the base of Mount Maunganui. MATA FLOODING: State highway 1 at Mata south of Whangarei early Saturday morn-ing. Former tropical cyclone Wilma is now well clear of the North Island, heading quickly out into the Pacific Ocean but leaving a big clean up operation for the island and high winds forecast for the rest of the country. The northern part of the North Island is this afternoon cleaning up in Wilma's wake, which raised fears for two people believed missing after their house broke to pieces sliding down a bank and onto the beach at Onetangi, on Waiheke Island, this morning. They were found safe and fire-


fighters also had to use a boat to rescue a man and woman stuck up trees in Pipiwai, 43km northwest of Whangarei. Around 70 people from Kaeo through to Kawakawa were evacuated overnight, however resi-dents from Kawakawa are returning to their homes as the floodwaters recede. About 280mm of torrential rain fell in the eastern hill country of Northland over 12-14 hours from 1pm on Friday, causing substantial damage to the region's road network and some wa-ter and sewage treatment plants. Highway at Dome Valley and SH16 had reoponed but Phipps still urged motorists to stay off the roads. Paihia's water treatment plant was also damaged and residents are being asked to conserve water over the next 24 hours. Wilma's wet legacy saw Mt Maunganui near Tauranga closed to the public until Wednesday after severe mud slides and landslips following torren-tial rain made the area unsafe. Numerous roads on the Coromandel Peninsula were closed due to slips today. (abridged) - NZPA

Posted by wwadmin on Wed, 02/02/2011

Waves 12 metres high, roughly the height of street lights, and a storm surge of 2 metres are going to combine to create massive coastal flooding in the hours ahead for the 200km stretch of Queensland coast when Intense Tropical Cyclone Yasi finally moves in. Image : Latest sat map showing the eye very clearly. A rare sight so close to land / MTSAT Yasi is expected to make landfall between 150 and 50kms north of Townsville tonight Severe flooding will push inland, as the cyclone remarkably remains intact for over 24 hours - something that is incredibly rare. Even hurricanes in America rarely do this. abridged)

YASI: Waves the height of street lights coming


Power poles snap near Fairlie JEFF TOLLAN Timaru Her-ald 03/02/2011 Timaru Herald http://www.stuff.co.nz/timaru-herald/news/4611442/Power-poles-snap-near-Fairlie

DOWNED: More than $50,000 of damage has been caused to power poles inland of Fairlie by wind gusts of up to 110kmh. Al-pine Energy chief executive Andrew Tombs said nor'westers left more than 2500 people around the township without power early yesterday after the wind snapped 15 poles.

MetService forecaster Micky Marlivuk said Fairlie was hit by a 109.2kmh gust at 2am, fol-lowed by a 92.6kmh gust later in the morning. Oamaru recorded an 85kmh gust, while in Ti-maru, a gust of 81.4kmh was recorded at 5am and again at 6am. At Pukaki airfield the fastest gust was recorded at 101kmh.


Air thick with fog, frustration, fury as flights canned KATE SAUNDERS Taranaki Daily News 05/02/2011 http://www.stuff.co.nz/taranaki-daily-news/news/4620913/Air-thick-with-fog-frustration-fury-as-flights-canned

THOMAS BUSBY/Taranaki Daily News BUSING OUT: Passengers at New Ply-mouth Airport boarding buses to Wellington and Auckland amid flight cancellations due to heavy fog. Thousands of travellers have been forced to bus in and out of New Ply-mouth over the last couple of days as thick fog wreaked havoc with flights at the airport.

More than 52 flights have been cancelled. Taranaki Weather Services' Barry Nesdale said moist air from the tropics had been cooled by the sea to create the fog, which was not related to the Cyclone Yasi. (abridged)

Records melt as humidity, heat strike By Isaac Davison NZ Herald 5:30 AM Monday Feb 7, 2011 http://www.nzherald.co.nz/weather/news/article.cfm?c_id=10&objectid=10704610

Scorching conditions which caused an Australian heatwave have crossed the Ditch, breaking tem-perature records in the South Island. After Australians sweltered in their beds on Sat-urday night - Sydney recorded 32.2C at midnight - New Zealanders experienced stiflingly muggy weather in the North Island and crisp, hot condi-

tions in Canterbury and Central Otago. In Timaru, MetService temperature gauges hit 40.3C about 3.30pm yesterday - the hottest re-corded in the city. Its previous highest reading was 39.7C in February 1973. Christchurch, Ashburton, Alexandra and Oamaru also had blistering-hot days, all recording 36C. Many North Island cities became uncomfortably muggy, with Wellington and Auckland re-cording almost 100 per cent humidity. Low fog yesterday meant 25 flights were delayed or cancelled at Wellington Airport. MetService weather ambassador Bob McDavitt said, "Our humidity levels have recently reached similar levels to Fiji. You don't have to go to the tropics for your summer holiday - their air is coming here." New Zealand's highest recorded temperature, 42.4C in Marlborough and Rangiora in 1973, occurred on an almost identical weather map to the weekend's, and also followed an early-February heatwave in Australia. The South Island cooled down quickly yesterday, with Oamaru dropping 15C in as many min-utes as a southwesterly moved up the island. (abridged)


11,000 runners sweat it out Biggest fun run in Wellington DAVE BURGESS Dom Post 21/02/2011 http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/4681375/Fun-runners-top-11-000 About 11,000 runners took part in the Round the Bays Wellington fun run. CHRIS SKELTON/Dominion Post They sweated, puffed and strained – a few were even taken to hospital – but in the end a re-cord number of people com-pleted the Round the Bays Wel-lington fun run. The previous re-cord was 10,100 runners. Wel-lington turned on a stunning summer's day with temperatures approaching 20 degrees Celsius

around lunchtime. MetService said the temperature eventually peaked at 23C. (abeidged)

Summer special - one day only By David Loughrey and NZPA and Otago Daily Times Mon, 7 Feb 2011

http://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/146796/summer-special-one-day-only Dunedin bathers flocked to St Clair beach yesterday to make the most of a brief window of sweltering weather. Photo by Gerard O'Brien. It may not have lasted, but Dune-din sweltered in a brief but glori-ous morning of summer yester-day, before normal service re-sumed. The city recorded a top tempera-ture of 34degC at 11am, accord-ing to the MetService, before a forecast southerly blocked the sun and temperatures tumbled. MetService forecaster Stephen Glassey last night put the heat down to the Foehn effect, in which a moist northwest wind flows over the mountains, drying out and getting hotter as it goes. But the southerly had put its

stamp on the climate by noon, when the temperature in Dunedin had dropped to 22degC. (abeidged)


Temperature soars, then it pours

PAUL GORMAN Christchurch Press /Stuff 08/02/2011 http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/4628046/Singing-in-the-rain KIRK HARGREAVES/The Press DRIPPING: Five-year-olds Macnamara Kane, left, and Tho-mas Tracey, enjoy their dash through the rain as they head home from school in St Albans, Christchurch, yesterday. A day after Timaru came almost topped New Zealand's high-est temperature and Canterbury sweltered in record heat, the region had cold water poured all over it. By yesterday afternoon, temperatures in Timaru had plum-meted to 14 degrees Celsius, just 24 hours after breaking 40C. Timaru went from the region's hottest place to the re-gion's wettest, with nearly 40 millimetres of rain by last night.

On Sunday, Timaru Airport recorded 40.3C, although the official Timaru city thermometer in the Botanic Gardens peaked at 41.3C, National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (Niwa) figures show. Severe-weather forecaster John Crouch said the amount of rain was related to the heat on Sunday and the moisture the air contained. "So we are still stuck in the air mass where we are getting a lot of moisture coming across the Tasman." (abridged)

Record rainfall floods South Otago Tue, 8 Feb 2011 Otago Daily Times http://www.odt.co.nz/regions/south-otago/146928/record-rainfall-floods-south-otago

Oliver Glassford, of Milton, walks across the flooded Toko River bridge on Toko Mouth Rd, near Milton yesterday af-ternoon, while his father, Gordon, follows behind in their 4WD vehicle. Mr Glass-ford had been mustering and chanced the short route home, but the water, which rose steadily during the afternoon, was soon too deep for cars. Photos by Allison Rudd. Heavy rain overnight on Sun-day resulted in flooding in South Otago and set records. MetService duty forecaster

Sarah Sparks said the heavy rainfall was caused by an active southwest front which passed over the region. The Otago Regional Council reported the Dart River reached the highest flow on record - 1469cumecs - at 1am yesterday. The previous high was 1266cumecs, recorded last year. Mt Cook recorded almost 190mm of rain yesterday, bringing the total for the past eight days to


more than 460mm. Heavy rain in the headwaters of the Waitaki catchment again raised rivers and overfilled hy-dro storage lakes. The hydro storage lakes Tekapo and Pukaki were both above maximum operating levels, causing spills down the Tekapo and Pukaki riverbeds into Lakes Benmore and Aviemore, with about 1.2m of water spilling over the Waitaki dam into the lower river. Wet, wet, wet 24-hour rainfall from 9am Sunday to 9am Monday Ranfurly 53mm, highest one-day rainfall for February since records began in 1943. Dunedin airport 54mm, third-highest one-day rainfall for February since records began in 1962. Cromwell 52mm, highest one-day rainfall for February since records began in 1949. Alexandra 68mm, highest one-day rainfall for February since records began in 1983. Balclutha, Telford, 73mm, second highest one-day rainfall for February since records began in 1964. Nugget Point 63 mm, highest one-day rainfall for February since records began in 1930. Source: National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (abridged)

Wairarapa harvest goes gold Daniel Simmons Ritchie | 2nd February 2011 Wairarapa Times Age http://www.times-age.co.nz/local/news/wairarapa-harvest-goes-gold/3939021/ Golden Harvest: Stephen Meyrick, of Pinehaven Orchard, among ripening royal gala apples that will be ready in about three weeks. Photo / Lynda Feringa The apple trees are heavier, the berries sweeter, and garden tomatoes are more popu-lar than ever in a strong summer for fruit and vegetables in Wairarapa. John Van Vliet, owner of JR Orchards in Grey-town, said early counts showed 10 to 15 per cent more apples this season compared to last season, despite the weather. "It has been a struggle. It's been very dry and

very windy. It's been a pain in the bum, if you don't mind me saying," he said. However, the honing of their own practices and last month's "three inches of beautiful rain" meant they were on track for a good crop. (abridged)

Lightning batters Bay as warm air meets cool Genevieve Helliwell | 28th February 2011 Bay of Plenty Times http://www.bayofplentytimes.co.nz/local/news/lightning-batters-bay-as-warm-air-meets-cool/3942364/

This radar image, taken at 7pm on Saturday night, shows a large thunderstorm covering the Bay of Plenty. Photo / Supplied. Hundreds of lightning strikes, ferocious thunder and heavy rain battered parts of the Bay of Plenty on Saturday night. MetService severe weather forecaster Mark Pascoe said there were over 800 lightning strikes in the Bay of Plenty, southern Waikato and Coromandel areas on Saturday afternoon and eve-ning. Mr Pascoe said the extreme thunder and lightning were often


caused by warm air temperature at ground level rapidly rising to meet cool air up above. When the two air temperatures mixed, the air became "unstable", and formed thunder, light-ning and heavy rain. "Looking at the pictures, it looks purely localised and I can see cloud cover of the Bay of Plenty and parts of Waikato. There's a bit of cloud over parts of the Coromandel as well. In these types [of weather patterns], it can rain on one side of the road and not the other so not every-one is going to experience the same thing," he said. (abridged)

Severe weather set to hamper rescue effort

Monday February 28, 2011 Source: ONE News http://tvnz.co.nz/politics-news/severe-weather-set-hamper-rescue-effort-4041757

Churches are among the iconic buildings dam-

aged in Tuesday's quake - Source: Bill Mallinson

Severe weather is set to hamper the rescue ef-fort in Christchurch as the desperate search for survivors continues. The MetService has issued a severe weather watch for Canterbury tomorrow night as a low from the Tasman Sea crosses over the South Island. Gale force northwesterlies are expected to de-velop in inland Canterbury through to the Banks Peninsula, before spreading north to parts of Marlborough and Wellington. The winds are expected to be particularly severe around hilly areas. MetService forecaster Mark Pascoe said the weather had the potential to be "hazardous". (abridged)

Seven biggest storms to hit Wellington KIRAN CHUG Dom Post 15/02/2011 http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/4649819/Seven-biggest-storms-to-hit-Wellington

Dominion Post : Cyclone

Giselle led to the sinking of

the interisland ferry Wahine.

New Zealand must accept the possibility of dramatic changes to its climate, in-stead of continuing to build homes in areas that may not last another generation. Victoria University's Martin Manning, who ended his tenure this week as director of the Climate Change Re-search Institute, is calling for New Zealand to end its


"inertia" and prepare for the impact of events such as storm surges and sea level rises. Professor Manning's comments come at the end of a week when scientists gathered in Wel-lington for the Extreme Weather 2011 conference, where experts discussed whether extreme conditions could be expected to become more frequent as a result of expanding settlement, higher temperatures and climate change. Scott Power, senior principal research scientist at Australia's Bureau of Meteorology, said the past decade had been the world's warmest on record, and last year was among the three warmest years on record. It was inevitable there would be further warming and sea level rises, but the extent of ex-treme weather events would also depend on natural factors such as weather systems, Dr Power said. This year's strong La Nina weather system had coincided with the damaging cyclone Yasi, and extensive Queensland floods - just as bad flooding hit Australia in the 1974 La Nina. Professor Manning said the recent storms were different because, at the same time, hundreds of people were killed by floods in Brazil and Sri Lanka. These events came only months after extremely cold temperatures froze the northern hemisphere, and the Amazon reached its lowest levels on record. "Patterns of extreme events are happening across the planet at the same time." The world was "perhaps in more trouble" than scientists had thought. "We are now starting to see the potential of human-driven climate change to be doing very dramatic things is very se-rious." Although scientists were "always conservative", a broader perspective needed to be taken now of how to deal with future extreme weather events. The private sector, such as the insurance industry, was already considering this - but Profes-sor Manning accused New Zealand of failing to act in some areas. For example, decisions were being made to allow building on low-lying land. "In the mean-time, this guy can build his bach here or this guy can build a house on stilts. "We've got subdivisions, hundreds of millions of dollars of investment gone into it, and it may not last a generation." National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research risk engineer Stefan Reese said Niwa and GNS Science were working on the Risk Scape project, which gathered information on vari-ous hazards, including possible effects of climate change. Last year, Dr Reese said there were 950 disasters around the world, of which nine out of 10 were weather-related. Professor Manning said New Zealand needed to form alliances with developing countries that were moving faster in seeking solutions. South Korea, for example, was harnessing energy from tides and China was pushing ahead with renewable energy projects. April 10, 1968: Cyclone Giselle caused peak gusts of 145 knots (270kmh) near Wellington, af-ter colliding with an Antarctic storm moving north. Giselle led to the sinking of the interisland ferry Wahine, and the loss of 51 lives. Total damage caused by the storm was estimated at $14 million. December 20, 1976: Heavy rain caused widespread flooding and landslides in Wellington City and Hutt Valley. Hutt River burst its stopbanks and workers in Petone took refuge on fac-tory roofs. Landslides destroyed houses and a boy was killed by a collapsing wall when a slip struck a hall in Crofton Downs. More than 350mm of rain fell in 24 hours. 4 October, 1997: More than 60 homes were flooded and residents in Lower Hutt riverside ar-eas were evacuated during downpours. Two people died, and isolated landslips closed some Wellington roads and parts of State Highway 1. 26 June, 1998: A severe thunderstorm affected Karori and Kelburn, with rain breaking all pre-vious records and falling at a rate with a return period of well over 200 years. Rainfall at Kel-burn totalled 69.5mm between 7.35pm and 9.10pm. October 13-27, 1998: Gale force northwesterlies blew throughout the lower North Island. On October 18, gusts of 183kmh were recorded at Castlepoint. Winds were most severe on the following two days, when a gust of 215kmh was recorded on a Wairarapa farm. A truck was


overturned, ships ripped from their moorings in Wellington, and some houses lost their roofs. January 10, 2002: Thunderstorms over Wellington resulted in torrential rainfall, about 40mm in 30 minutes, and flash floods in the city centre. Similar storms some with hail and surface flooding also happened in Whanganui, Manawatu, the central and eastern North Island, Buller and Nelson. The average recurrence interval of this rainfall event is more than 100 years. February 14-16, 2004: The Valentines Day storms left hundreds of people homeless, and silt and floodwaters inundated considerable areas of farmland. Many rivers breached their banks, bridges were damaged and stock was swept away by floodwaters. A civil state of emer-gency was declared in Whanganui, Manawatu and Rangitikei. About 500 Lower Hutt residents were evacuated because of floodwaters. and many commuters were unable to enter Welling-ton. The event produced gale force southerlies, with gusts of 230kmh in the Tararua Range, and swells of 11m in Cook Strait. Water spout 18/02/2011 Taranaki Daily News http://www.stuff.co.nz/taranaki-daily-news/photo-video/photos/4676596/Waterspout

Water spouts were spotted off the coast of New Plymouth for most of the morning and early af-

ternoon today.

Water spouts spotted off the coast of New Plymouth BLANTON SMITH http://www.stuff.co.nz/taranaki-daily-news/news/4678404/Water-spouts-spotted-off-the-coast-of-New-Plymouth The words "water" and "spout" were on the lips of almost everyone yesterday. The Taranaki Daily News received a flurry of calls between 10.30am and 2pm from people who had spotted several large water spouts off the coast of New Plymouth and Bell Block. Although they look similar, Taranaki Weather Service spokesman Barry Nesdale said the fun-nel clouds were not tornadoes. "They are towering cumulus clouds associated with unstable moist conditions," he said. "It's a whirlwind extending from the surface of the sea to the clouds which is turning rapidly and sucking up moisture. Even if they did come ashore they wouldn't cause much damage be-cause they don't have the strength of a tornado." Mr Nesdale said the phenomena was a common occurrence and happened most often in the summer months. (abridged)


Hot and cold weather fine for the vine GRANT BRYANT Southland Times 15/02/2011 http://www.stuff.co.nz/southland-times/news/4656644/Hot-and-cold-weather-fine-for-the-vine

GRANT BRYANT/The Southland Times REFRESHED BY THE RAIN: Veteran vintner Greg Hay inspects pinot gris grapes that, despite the often wet Wakatipu sum-mer, are thriving. The Wakatipu's soggy summer has played into the hands of the region's grapegrowers. A moderately hot lead-in to the New Year period meant harvest dates looked to be fast-tracked by about two weeks, but the rain and cold weather that has struck since means harvest dates are now only about five days ahead of the usual mid-to-late-March picking period. (abridged)

La Nina brings welcome rain By Owen Hembry NZ Herald Wednesday Feb 16, 2011 http://www.nzherald.co.nz/agriculture/news/article.cfm?c_id=16&objectid=10706502

As February shapes up as the hottest on record it has also seen plenty of rainfall help relieve dry farmland. Federated Farmers adverse events spokes-man David Rose said there had been plenty of rainfall all over the country. "Those cyclonic events that have come down late January and February which is

often the driest month, there's been plenty of rainfall for a change, following from what had been very dry spring and early summer weather," Rose said. Northland, Waikato and Ruapehu had been affected by drought, while others areas had been very dry, including the west coast and parts of Southland. "We have had the rains and now people are recovering but [they] won't fully recover the pro-duction that's been lost." The La Nina weather pattern had seen rain coming in on the east coast - an area that would be dry in a normal year. The apple and pear harvest, of which apples account for about 98.5 per cent, got under way last week and could be 15-20 per cent higher than last year at about 540,000 tonnes. Rabobank in January said the grape harvest could be up to 300,000 tonnes, a 13 per cent rise on last year. Meanwhile, Beef and Lamb New Zealand said the total lamb crop was down 2.8 million to 25.1 million, with most of the drop because of storms last September in Southland, South Otago and parts of the North Island.


Counting the cost 02/02/2011 Waiheke Marketplace http://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/local-news/waiheke-marketplace/4607571/Counting-the-cost

DESTROYED: The 1920s bach below Garrett Rd at

Onetangi.

The deluge delivered by Cyclone Wilma caused a bach at the end of Onetangi Beach to collapse early on Saturday morning as well as flooding and slips right across the island that were still being cleared up yesterday. Waiheke rain monitor for NIWA Malcolm Philcox measured rainfall of 151mm between 8am on Friday and 8am on Saturday an amount that hasn't been recorded since the 1970s, and one-and-a-half times more than fell just six days before, on January 23. Fire chief Ron Leonard estimates around 100 slips occurred on Friday night. "I've never experienced anything like it on Waiheke Cyclone Bola in 1988 doesn't even compare.''

World Experts Converge In Wellington For The Extreme Weather Con-ference Monday, 7 February, 2011 - 16:27 http://www.voxy.co.nz/national/world-experts-converge-wellington-extreme-weather-conference/5/81042

Over the past decade, predicting the weather, and understanding the changes in climate, has emerged as one of the most important and topical areas of scientific endeavour. An international community of over 200 scientists will converge on Te Papa in Wellington this week for the Extreme Weather Conference, from 9 -11 February. The scientists will share in-formation, and work to better understand extreme weather events such as recent damaging storms in New Zealand, and Cyclone Yasi, which hit northern Queensland last week with de-structive winds reaching 290 kilometres per hour. Cyclone Yasi demonstrated the importance of forecasting, and how, when combined with good preparation, this can dramatically reduce the impact of a cyclone. Tropical cyclones occur almost twice as often in La Nia years as they do in El Nio years in east-ern Australia. Scott Power, an Australian scientist who is a plenary speaker at the conference is using a new database with one of the world's longest reliable records of tropical cyclone ac-tivity dating back to the late 19th century to analyse patterns of cyclone activity. Land-falls of cyclones have occurred almost twice as often in La Nia years as in El Nio years, and multiple land-falls have only occurred during La Nia years. Power's research paper is just one of 120 papers to be presented at the conference. The re-cent cyclones and floods in Australia, and storms in New Zealand, have emphasised the impor-tance of the science being developed and presented at this conference. The topics cover many aspects of meteorological and oceanographic research in the Australasian region. NIWA's Chief Scientist, Climate, Dr David Wratt will be speaking on recent developments in climate science. Extreme weather resulting in emergency situations can be expected to become more frequent as a result of expanding settlements, combined with higher temperatures and climate change. NIWA's Dr Mike Revell, who chairs the conference organising committee, says, "The confer-ence offers us the opportunity to share findings on recent research with the Australians, and to learn more about climate, oceanography, and extreme weather in Australasia." The cost of climate change One of the key issues that will be discussed at the conference is the


influence of climate change on the cost of weather-related disasters. Neville Nicholls, from Monash University, Australia, will look at a time-series of the economic costs of weather-related disasters: bushfires, floods, tropical cyclones, which typically exhibit a strong increase over, for instance, the 20th century. Nicholls will explore the lessons that have been learnt from the devastating Queensland floods. Those floods give a clear indication of the need for improved planning for our settlements and infrastructure. NIWA natural hazards scientist Dr Stefan Reese, who recently took part in the damage assess-ment of the floods in Brisbane, will chair a session on the impacts of extreme weather events on buildings and geographic areas. That session will also look at guidance on where people should build to avoid impacts from these events. Conference presentations will cover six key areas: extreme weather in the Australasian region - from floods to droughts impact and meteorology of the main climate drivers (ENSO e.g. El Nio and La Nia,) using high-resolution models to understand local meteorology oceanography of the Australasian region climate change in the Australasian region impacts of natural catastrophes in the Australasian region. Award winner acknowledged At the conference, NIWA's Dr Andrew (Drew) Lorrey will be pre-sented with the 2010 Kidson Medal by the Meteorological Society of New Zealand for his sci-entific paper "Regional climate regime classification as a qualitative tool for interpreting multi-proxy paleoclimate data spatial patterns: a New Zealand perspective" This is a joint conference being held by the Meteorological Society of New Zealand and the Australian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society. Research topics that maybe of interest to journalists include: The Pacific Climate Change Sci-ence Program (PCCSP) presented by Scott Power on behalf of participating scientists and staff in Australia and participating countries. The Pacific Climate Change Science Program (PCCSP) is an AUD$20 million program to help the pacific countries gain a better understanding of how climate has changed in the past and how it may change in the future. Trends in public opinion on climate change, as reflected in contributions to Australian News-papers Will be presented by David Karoly who investigated trends over time in public opin-ions on climate change in Australia through a content analysis of letters and contributed edi-torials published in five major Australian newspapers. The data covered four year, 2006‐‐‐‐2009, from before the release of the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report (AR4) in 2007 to after the Copenhagen Climate Conference in 2009. Physical and chemical oceanography of the Macquarie ridge region Dr Mike Williams, NIWA, will present new work and addresses the physical and chemical oceanography of the Mac-quarie Ridge region

Extreme weather experts dis-cuss recent events Published: 11:32AM Wednesday Febru-ary 09, 2011 Source: ONE News http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/extreme-weather-experts-discuss-recent-events-4018566

Flood Two hundred weather experts have gathered at a Wellington conference to discuss the types of weather events that have devastated parts of Australia re-cently. Massive bushfires in Perth, the destruc-tive cyclone Yasi and major floods in Queensland have all been attributed to


La Nina weather patterns. But NIWA Principal Scientist and Asia-Pacific climate change conference chair Mike Revell told TV ONE's Breakfast that people may be mistakenly blaming the recent run of extreme weather in Australia on climate change. Revell said climate change will cause weather events to occur more frequently, not necessar-ily make them more extreme. But, he agreed that some of the effects from climate change may contribute to individual events. "The sea temperatures are warming up, tropical cyclones get their energy from warm sea temperatures, so the fact that the sea temperatures have gone up makes possible tropical cy-clones more likely to form," he said. Revell said the La Nina that is causing the extreme weather events is "one of the more extreme La Ninas we've had for the past few decades". Scientist Scott Power added that during a La Nina weather pattern chances of tropical cy-clones making landfall are increased. "In fact it's almost more than twice as likely," he told ONE News. Weather forecasting came under fire during the flooding in Queensland but Revell said it has improved a lot over the years. "So regional councils can benefit immensely from listening to MetService NIWA forecasts," he said. He said that sometimes the events are so small that the forecasting equipment does not recog-nise them. The extreme weather experts will not be discussing the latest weather events at the confer-ence but will look at patterns from a few years ago to help determine what will happen in the future.

Extreme weather more frequent 8/02/2011 10:16:01 Newstalk ZB http://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/newsdetail1.asp?storyID=190429 NIWA Principal Climate Scientist Dr James Renwick says the recent weather is nothing un-usual but occurring in clusters. Extreme weather is expected to become more frequent. More than 200 scientists from around the world have converged on Wellington for the 'Extreme Weather Conference'. It comes in a week where Cyclone Yasi has ravaged Queensland, bushfires continue to burn in Perth and in New Zealand temperatures have reached new highs. NIWA Principal Climate Scientist Dr James Renwick told Newstalk ZB's Mike Hosking that the recent weather is nothing unusual, it's just occurring in clusters. "As the climate warms up we are seeing an increased frequency of heavy rainfall, a higher fre-quency of very hot days and that kind of thing right around the world."

So how windy is Wellington? KIRAN CHUG Dom Post 14/02/2011 http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/4653843/So-how-windy-is-Wellington

Dominion Post Researchers have set up specialist wind-speed monitors on five-metre-high masts in Belmont Regional Park, and another on an existing 70m mast. We already know Wellington is one of the world's windiest cities - now a new scientific study will measure how much the capital's infamous winds speed up as they howl through the land-scape's natural tunnels.


National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research principal scientist Mike Revell said a "speed-up effect" was being created in wind tunnels around the city, where gusts could be two or three times as strong as those felt in other areas. "If you blow a wind over a flat piece of land, it's the same everywhere. If you put hills or moun-tain, it gets slowed down in some parts but sped up in others." While Monday's high winds saw police urge motorists to take care driving over the Rimutaka Hill - where gusts reached 146kmh at the summit - the strong winds offered the research team its first set of data. Researchers have set up specialist wind-speed monitors on five-metre-high masts in Belmont Regional Park, and another on an existing 70m mast. They will also be using acoustic wind- measuring devices, which record sound waves to pro-duce a profile of wind conditions. Wind funnelled through the Cook Strait contributed to Wellington's weather, Dr Revell said, but the wind around any of the city's peaks - such as Mt Victoria, Makara or Tinakori Hill - could be magnified by two or three times as the surrounding landscape caused it to acceler-ate. "It's one of the windiest cities in the world. Mostly, people don't put cities in such windy spots." Dr Revell said the data would better inform future decisions about how high new structures were built in different parts of the city. "At the moment, those building codes have been put together from experience and theory." As there was very sparse data on "speed-up effects" worldwide, the team's research would be used in building designs both here and overseas. Opus International Consultants had created a miniature wind tunnel for the study, Dr Revell said. "We'll put a scale model inside, it's about 40 or 50 metres long, and we'll blow wind through it." Data collected from the masts' monitoring equipment would then be compared to speeds through the wind tunnel. Niwa scientists are being joined by Auckland University researchers on the study, and also GNS Science. Their work will feed into the regional "Riskscape" project, in which a profile is being built of each area's natural hazards. The results could also help decide where to place wind turbines, as small spatial differences in locations can produce significantly different outputs.


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Documents

Meteorological Society Of New Zealand (Inc.) · wide field and he had an international reputation for his papers on Southern Hemisphere at-mospheric circulation. The Edward Kidson