NZ Herald

North Island ski season off to an early flying start..

Yet ANOTHER low level snowfall in Otago, with Dunedin Airport closed.

Source: NZ Herald

Thanks for the info guys, great news. Amazing about the snow in Dunedin, tonights low is to be -4, that is pretty severe on the coast. Those inland reserviours between Dunedin and Alexandria used for ice skating must be frozen by now. Will our turn ever come?.

You have to remember that at 45-46S, they are a lot further south than us, hence more exposure to super cold air masses. Strong fronts really only impact us between July-September, whereas that far south they can occur just about all year round.

NZ's position as the first landfall north of Antarctica also helps just a "tad".

Its still very maritime down there, mid winter temp range a mild 3.0 to 10.0. Major snowfalls like this do not happen every year which is why it makes the news. It seems to be recent years weather patterns that have severely skewed the odds for NZ and against us in Aus. The other night Macquarie Island came very close to their all time coldest blizzard for June on record, blizzrad conditions at nearly -6deg right on the coast, part of the same weather system I think.

The difference between the last 2 events & this one was the dry air.. the low that had been playing with us for the last week finally wrapped around and dragged up the moisture slowly. The tasman highs have a major influence on the coldies here.. it was just chance that the current one didnt bust the 1040 mark & allowed the fronts and cold air to progress upwards. There was a lot of debate and speculation on this system but even to the die hard fans here that wrote it off.. surprised everyone.

The desert road here on the north island, as i believe at time of posting.. is still closed. Here in Paerata (border of Auckland & Waikato region) pushed very close to -4ºc this morning once that cold air moved up.. -3.7ºc i was reading outside at 0745 out time which equals the coldest morning of the year.. set only about 10 or 11 days ago. Tomorrow morning could possibly get lower again.

Not often snow falls to sea level in Dunedin as snowmi puts it.. the place is a very maratime city.. so there are many pics to play with courtesy of readers from the Otago Daily Times

Hi all.

Absolutely amazing storm here last night/this morning, very Queensland like with torrential flooding rain after the most amazing CG fest ive seen since moving back here from Jimboomba.. high based fat branchy frequent bolts with the most amazing resonating booms that went right through you and rattled all your vital organs. Almost felt like being back over there during peak season! First time also ive ever seen the paddocks flooded which they still are a full 12 hours later, plenty of wind damage assosciated also with missing washing, a few branches down and neighbours chimney damaged.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0bykTv1m4s
That video is a cracker.. one of many CG's hitting the Auckland skytower. There is a wee bit of language about half way through but scores a full 10 on the scale.. for here anyway

nice storm last night silly drizzle atm thou

Looks to be ANOTHER very strong cold front about to hit the South Island on Sunday with 850hp temps down to -8C right up as far north as Christchurch. :rolleyes: This is just getting ridiculous how many they're getting!

Lots.. you guys kindly keep sending them over lol

Remember the deal though Dale, you get all of ours in the first half of winter, we get all yours in the second half! :cheers:

Lol.. true.
Going for thundery rain tonight here, can already hear a few crackles on the AM and its not too far off clouding right over.. wont be a repeat of the other night but a good flash and rumble will keep me appeased

Still looking awesome for the S.I. very low snow levels going by the latest GFS run..

more lovely stroms moving in from the tasman man i picked a good time to come to nz

Mini Tornado Hits NZ\'s North Island

Check this out!!

Yes, a few more details can be found in this story, ' Tornado rips into the North '

Yer, seems theres alot of 'mini tornados' in NZ this winter, must be very consistent this year...

Noticed on the NIWA monthly summary that they reported an anomaly of -0.7 for June but the maps suggest that it was more like -1.5. I've e-mailed my contacts at NIWA for an explanation and will let you know if I hear any more.

NIWA is not really on the friends list over here atm Blair, in regards to Jim & the kerfuffle ensued. But it has been remarkably cold the last couple of months with figures well down on from my digging, previous couple of years. For Auckland anyway, sunshine hours and TMax's have been up but the mercury have crashed during the nights. It has only really warmed up of late with the series of sub-lows making their way over us.. a climax to be tomorrow and early sunday morning for the N.I. anyway.. going by previous observations its going to be a blast and a half or from the past, pardon the pun. Im starting to get concerned.. a couple of mods are suggesting 70 knot winds from the East which will cause some damage locally as my topography funnels winds to almost double strength through here. I am seriously expecting gusts to around 130 km/h with this blast.. GFS has taken its time to come to the party but EC & co have been playing for a while. Either way, going to be a VERY interesting couple of days for us over the pond.

Im going home to Auckland for a few weeks next Monday!
Cant wait, haven't been to nz in 18 months, shame I'm going to miss this event.

SEVERE WEATHER WARNING.
ISSUED BY MetService AT 11:03 am 10-Jul-2009
MEDIA
STORMY CONDITIONS FOR THE NORTH OF THE NORTH ISLAND THIS WEEKEND

A low near New Caledonia is expected to deepen rapidly today and move towards
New Zealand. Although the centre of the low should pass to the north of the
country, heavy rain and damaging winds associated with it are expected to affect
Northland down to Waikato.

Heavy rain should spread south during Saturday morning and not ease until Sunday.
Up to 150mm of rain is possible in Northland,especially about the eastern hills
from Whangarei northwards. For the Rodney District north of Warkworth, Great
Barrier Island, the Coromandel Peninsula and Kaimai Range up to 120mm is likely.

Gale force easterlies are forecast to develop at a similar time to the heavy
rain,turning southeast during Sunday. Damaging gusts of 120 to 140 km/h are
possible during Saturday and Sunday, especially about the higher ground of
Northland, Auckland, Great Barrier Island and the Coromandel Peninsula, as well
as about the Hauraki Plains.

The combination of the heavy rain and strong winds is likely to disrupt outdoor
activities, make driving hazardous and lead to surface flooding, slips,rapidly
rising streams and rivers and could damage trees and buildings. People in these
areas should keep up to date with the latest forecasts and warnings.

One extremely impressive looking low heading straight towards the North Island at the moment. Tonight and Tomorrow morning will be very interesting.

With winds possibly hitting the 140-150km/h mark I wonder if they will shut the Harbour Bridge? Or is it a case of no motorbikes/trucks allowed?