North Island Weather

[MotherBear]

Hope all you people in the upper part of North Island are OK and haven't suffered any damage. Take care!
This is from the NZ Herald

New storm warnings issued for upper North Island

18.09.05 1.00pm

Fresh storm warnings have been issued for the top of the North Island.
Severe gales gusting up to 120 kilometres an hour could buffet Northland, Auckland, Coromandel the Bay of Plenty and East Cape areas.

There have already been several weather-related incidents. Trees have fallen across roadways across the entire region, and roads have also been blocked by mudslides near Rotorua. Power cables and a power pole have been brought down in the Waikato. In Dargaville, a canopy came adrift from a service station forecourt.

Various debris have blown off vehicles as well. A large amount of timber plywood fell off a trailer being towed by a vehicle on the Southern Motorway near Conifer Grove, South Auckland.

Forecasters are also warning of abnormally high tides. Combined with strong onshore winds, they could produce significant storm tides in the Hauraki Gulf, Firth of Thames and Bay of Plenty.

[Daisyspop]

Just a blip I think. I well remember similar weather in the UK, high winds have become quite a regular feature there. The one thing you can rely on here, even in the middle of such weather, is that the sun will pop out and dry everything up again.
Why are we english so obsessed with talking about the weather? In his excellent tour of New Zealand Billy Connelly had it right when he said that rain is not 'bad weather' but simply 'weather'.
We just love it here and the weather is an everyday feature we take as it comes.

[Glenda]

Whilst I agree that a spot of rain is not necessarily 'bad' weather (it does water the garden and a good dose keeps the water tank topped up!), the forecast was for particularly bad weather and was probably made by a Kiwi and not by an 'English' person. It is useful to know how rough the weather is going to be and it is nice and thoughful that others are interested to know how rough the weather is going to/has been. :icon_biggrin:

Must say we hardly slept on Saturday night here ... not just the thunder, lightning and rain but we wondered whether the roof would fly off with those gusts! The weather was really no different to a rough gale force storm in the UK but the noise is certainly a lot worse here than in UK houses due to the lack of sound insulation and the metal roofs. All day the winds continued and by the evening whilst watching "Bend it like Beckham" on tv we could not keep our eyes open, even though we were thoroughly enjoying it.

Taking the kids to school this morning, there was a lot of debris lying about and quite a few trees that were toppled. Didn't see any houses without roofs though ... what a relief they know how to fix them well!!! :icon_biggrin:

Have to get off the PC now ... thunder and lightening again! :icon_eek: icon_exclaim.gif

[Daisyspop]

Oops, sounded a bit grumpy eh?
Actually the 'weather' was one of many reasons why we left for these shores. Remember the winds that damaged old and rare trees in Kew a few years ago? Most of all though I remember having to scrape ice from my windscreen after defrosting the doorlock and then shivering for a few miles until the car warmed up. Somehow the ice kept appearing on the inside of the screen as well.
Rain is a feature of New Zealand's climate - that is why it is so green and verdant. The Kiwis seem to think that this rain is peculiar to their islands but for those of us who come from the UK and remember the wet holidays in North Wales or the Lake District for instance - we would claim to be just as wet and just as green. The difference here, as I have said loud and often, lies in the warmth and duration of the sunshine.
The storms yesterday were loud and rough but doing relatively little damage as far as I can see (I live in a rural area south of Auckland).

There was a 'freak' tornado in southern Hamilton a few days ago, which only lasted a minute or so. Took a few tiles off a roof or two, damaged a few buildings with trees falling over, and sadly caused a bit of damage to Hamilton Gardens, ripping up trees and plants.

In the typical Kiwi attitude though, the manager of the gardens said 'could have been worse'.

We've had 2 days of pretty strong wind, although not as bad as Northland, Auckland and parts of Coromandel, who've had 120km/h winds! All died down now for us, and the sun is putting in an appearance again ::):

[saraian]

Erm, we have snow and we are in a campervan :icon_eek: icon_exclaim.gif In ChCh at the moment, so funny when we woke to everything white. I came to see snowcapped mountains but this is crazy, even i'm snowcapped. Hey all just part of the adventure. At least i got internet. :icon_biggrin:

We are all fine and loving every second. We have seen the most beautiful sights and the Kiwis really are the most friendly people. Driving down along the east coast of the south island and seals and penguins are playing and swimming in the sea or basking on the rocks and so close to us. Trains running along side the road that you are quite literally driving next to them, bizzare. Oh and the snowcapped mountains are so beautiful, they don't seem real. We only need Elvis to walk across the road and everything will make sense. He isn't dead or we are in heaven. Up until now the weather has been fantastic. Nelson is beautiful as is blenhiem.

Looking forward to seeing Christchurch and the surrounding areas. When we first arrived I was dissappointed as it didn't grasp me as i thought it would. To be fair though it was raining and cloudy. Hoping to see the banks pennisula and further south, Ashburton then down to Oamaru and Dunedin.

Apparently there is a big pushdown there for people to go work and live. It is colder, but we are used to cold coming from the UK.

We have friends in Oamaru that say the winters are cold and crisp but the summers are really warm and pleasant. Well we are not moving to NZ for the climate so it doesn't bother me. We will see. I'll let you all know what we think.Well better dash and face Chch in the snow :icon_lol:

If anyone has any info or places they recommend we see while in the area i would be grateful.

Sara

[Glenda]

Hi Sara,

I was thinking of you when I saw the pictures of Christchurch under snow :icon_eek: icon_exclaim.gif ... wondering whereabouts you were. Tad bit chilly, even if you are used to the cold weather. The problem with living way down south is not the cold weather (most of us Brits are used to that) but being able to afford (or even find) a house that is heated and well insulated enough to keep warm in. But that is another topic!

When we first visited Christchurch, we stayed for five days and whilst we found it great for a city, we were glad to be on that road north to Kaikoura and Nelson. Yes, it is a lovely drive. Did you have fish and chips at Kaikoura? ... heaven. Heard the Banks Peninsular and Akaroa are cut off at the moment, but hopefully the cold snap won't last long.

One thing this country has in common with the UK - as soon as someone says "spring's here", the weather reminds us that winter is not yet over.

:icon_biggrin:

[MotherBear]

Originally Posted by Glenda

Did you have fish and chips at Kaikoura? ...

Ohhhh! Taffy could you please research a good chippy for us when we come down? It's been a while .

[MotherBear]

Why are we english so obsessed with talking about the weather?

Because we're British and British people are renowned the world over for being obsessed with the weather :icon_biggrin: .

Still looking very rough in Tauranga today. The beach webcam is swaying around and it all looks very soggy. Still, the grass will enjoy a good soaking and everything will get a good wash down.

[Daisyspop]

There we are, what did I tell you? The sun is shining again here in Auckland, the winds have disappeared and we are back in Spring again. What a country!