New Zealand snow storms are only weather
August 15th, 2011 by Warwick HughesI have been watching the news from over the ditch about the snowy conditions advancing up the country from the south. I see the authorities are predicting snow on the ranges around Auckland. I think the last forecast of this came to nought – but we will see.
Posted in Climate indicators | 6 Comments »
August 15th, 2011 at 10:15 am
Warwick did you see the Auckland Council are reporting snow falling in the Waitakere Ranges at their Arataki Visitor Centre. Never heard of it in my lifetime or my families.
August 15th, 2011 at 10:58 am
Hi Warrick – I tried to post this at Climate Conversation, but it didn’t seem to work…..
What do you people think of the reported snow in the Waitakere’s.
It’s just a bit of weather up from the South Pole. Here’s a Google Earth infrared cloud shot a couple of days ago: i55.tinypic.com/2i22y9.jpg
Piekle Sr. did a post on this NZ weather event here.
It’s the sort of thing which was going to be a thing of the past but is these days held up as evidence of more energy in a warming world, a theory debunked here. To quote Anthony Watts:
I just hope we don’t have any lambs born for the next few days. It’s much worse than the snow fall of 25-July. This is wet and windy. Temperature here in Amberley right now is 2.5C. Gotta love the log burner!
August 15th, 2011 at 5:42 pm
I believe that the last time snow fell in Auckland itself was in 1939.
The good news is that the low lying areas will be spared snow, and only get hail (and high winds).
August 15th, 2011 at 9:48 pm
And this year, Australia had its coldest autumn on record (or at least since 1917). Very little coverage about that – but that’s only weather too, I suppose.
August 15th, 2011 at 10:06 pm
only weather to anyone with a sense of history, but this is climate change in action for the ABC…
abcasiapacificnews.com/stories/201108/3293168.htm
check out the tags.
August 16th, 2011 at 7:57 am
We also received a dusting of the white stuff – on the Highland Park Hill about midway between the Waitakere Ranges & the Bombay Hills. But a minor detail compared to the 8ft overnight fall I saw when living in Washington State. Still – our coldest ever daily high recorded at 8.2c. 36 towns & cities w/out mail delivery. 10 Highways closed, as well as 4 Airports, that’s no surprise as 58 Air NZ & JetStar flights were cancelled. A friend in Dunedin says the snow knee-deep there. Anyway, around Auckland knitted hats, scarves & gloves are normally just a fashion item, at the moment they are a necessity – even inside! My fingers like ice-cubes & now I hear Southerly winds & hail predicted for this pm.