Weather Bomb hits NZ

Weather turns from ice to nice
25 June 2006
By EMMA PAGE and MATHEW LOH HO-SANG



Mother Nature looks set to give New Zealand a break this week.

The country has been in the grips of the coldest June for 15 years, but MetService meteorologist Bob McDavitt said sunny weather should kickstart a thaw as an anti-cyclone, followed by a northerly, is due to move across most of the country this week.

'When the northerly comes, the snow will thaw,' he said.

Most previously closed North Island roads reopened yesterday, but police were still urging motorists to take care and drive to the conditions. In the eastern North Island, SH38 between Tuai and Waikaremoana remained closed and extreme care was needed on SH35 between Ruatoria and Te Puia Springs and Hicks Bay, where landslips were causing delays.

All roads were open in the South Island but the AA was urging people to take extreme care and to expect delays on several roads.

Meanwhile, South Island farmers still without electricity could call a hotline (0800 997-779) set up to help people cope with the practical and emotional issues of being isolated.

Canterbury Chamber of Commerce president Peter Townsend said an analysis of the cold snap's economic impact was yet to be completed but the social cost was the big issue, especially for those still without power.

He said most businesses were fortunate and retained power but many struggled to get staff to work, with some business owners using 4WDs to ferry staff.

A spokesman for Ashburton's Baynes Spinning Wheels said the cost of moving staff around had hit the bottom line, but the spirit of helping each other had boosted the community. Wilsons Transport general manager John Petrie said normal operations were 'definitely affected', but the company had managed to pick up business by using some of its trucks to put grit on snow-clogged roads.

Good to hear that the weather is improving, must be in preparation for us lot all moving out over the next few months :icon_lol:

Damn!! Spoke too soon.

More snow storms on the way
Monday June 26, 2006
By Jarrod Booker

New Zealand has not seen the last of the severe weather. Fresh storms are forecast to bring more snow to both islands this week. The MetService is expecting more falls down to 700m in the east coast region of the North Island today, and snow is forecast later in the week for the South Island, where about 350 households are still without power.

Central North Island highways closed last week, stranding motorists and cutting crucial freight links, had all reopened yesterday, except for State Highway 38 at Tuai, near Wairoa. Caution was being urged by Transit New Zealand on other highways where slips had occurred.

The east coast is still recovering from snow, rain and lightning strikes which left residents without power and phone lines since late last week. One hundred connections to homes, pumps and woolsheds around Wairoa were knocked out by high winds and snow. It was expected to take three to four days to restore power.

Continuing bad weather has been hindering repairs in remote areas. 'It has been difficult to get access into a lot of these places. It is rugged terrain,' said Eastland Network spokesman Ben Gibson.

About 500 customers around the Central North Island were still without phones yesterday, Telecom said. A lightning strike at a mast in Te Araroa caused many of the outages. A cold front is forecast by the MetService to move up the South Island on Thursday, bringing snow to low levels in Southland, Otago and Canterbury.

It may be late this week before all homes in Canterbury have power restored. Electricity Ashburton general manager Gordon Guthrie said reconnecting power to about 150 homes in Mid-Canterbury would be the most difficult. 'We are getting access problems with farmland and sodden ground.'

It meant perfect conditions for skiers on the opening day of the season at the Remarkables near Queenstown, where by yesterday more than $30,000 had been raised for charity at the Winter Festival.

The money is for Cure Kids and the Wakatipu High School.

At least Welshgirl's heading for warmer climes.In the 30s in the UK at the mo.

Coldest June since 1972, with more snow set for holidays
Monday July 3, 2006
By Anne Beston

We knew it was really, really cold and official records confirm it. Last month was the coldest June since 1972 - in parts of the South Island it was the coldest in half a century. The month also threw everything at us weatherwise: gale-force winds, flooding and even a tornado.

The only surprise in the latest National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (Niwa) figures was that Auckland had its sunniest June. The big chill that gripped the country last month gave Tara Hills near Omarama minus 14C on the 14th, the lowest temperature since records began in 1950. Fairlie equalled its lowest June temperature, minus 14C. Its records go back as far as 1931.

The North Island was up to 2C below normal for the month and the South Island up to 1.5C. And the country gobbled electricity to a corresponding degree, sending power records tumbling. Demand reached 6748MW last Thursday, breaking two records set the previous fortnight and up 3.6 percent on the previous nationwide peak of 6513MW set in August, 2004.

'From the 11th of June, temperatures plummeted so the drop between May and June was very noticeable,' said Niwa senior climate scientist Dr Jim Salinger. 'The South Island had at least nine days where minus 10C or lower was recorded.' The two big weather events for the month were the snowstorm which blasted South Canterbury and North Otago on June 11-12 - Auckland was battered by high winds and rain on the 12th which cut power to the CBD for around eight hours - and the snowstorm that hit the central and eastern North Island on 20-22 June.

In between, there was flooding and a tornado near Greymouth and gale-force winds - a gust of 146km/h was recorded near Mt Kaukau near Wellington - on June 11 with another breezy blast hitting the North Island on June 19, bringing down trees in Tauranga and damaging powerlines in Taranaki, Bay of Plenty and Gisborne.

But the sun shone to record-breaking levels in Dargaville, Auckland, Hamilton, Stratford and Dunedin because of an unusually high number of high pressure systems moving over the country from the west which brought clear skies and polar-tinged southerlies straight from Antarctica. 'The thing about winters in the last decade has been that they have been warm and suddenly we got a cold month,' Dr Salinger said.

Niwa would release its three-monthly outlook on Wednesday, showing whether predictions of normal to slightly above normal temperatures for this winter still held, he said. National grid operator Transpower said demand for electricity through June was 'successfully managed' with all major generators making supply available at peak times.

Holiday weather bad unless you want snow

The beginning of the school holidays brings bad news on the weather front - unless you are headed to the ski slopes. A messy trough of low pressure is expected to spread over much of the country from today, with an associated cold front beginning its sweep up both islands and yet another cold, southerly change arriving in its wake.

Snow is forecast to sea level in Southland, Otago and Canterbury with MetService predicting snow to 100m on the Kaikoura coast. However, the snow was not expected at the kinds of depths seen during last month's snowstorm that cut power to hundreds of homes Canterbury and North Otago.

Tomorrow, the front is forecast to move over the North Island, with snow possible about the ranges and affecting roads at higher altitudes including the Desert Road. Very cold southerlies grip the South Island with sleet and snow forecast to 300m in the south and east.

Gisborne and Hawkes Bay will get mostly fine or cloudy weather today. The rest can expect rain to spread from the west after a fine start with cold southeasterlies strengthening in the south and east. Towards evening, isolated thunderstorms are possible for northern Taranaki and north of Hamilton.

On Wednesday, showers stick around for Wellington but should clear elsewhere and cold southeasterly winds should ease as a ridge of high pressure spreads over the country. By Thursday, it's expected to be fine in most places but cold - with frosts. 'There should be a couple of nice days later in the week but that's pretty much about it at the moment,' said MetService forecaster Leigh Couper.

By Friday, the end of the first week of holidays, showers develop in the west of the South Island. Another cold front will begin moving up from the South Island late this week. Skifield operators in both islands report a bumper start to the season with one of the best snow bases in recent memory.

June's big chill breaks records
03 July 2006
By KIM THOMAS

June delivered the coldest temperatures in 34 years, causing heartache for farmers and leaving snow-hit South Islanders with a multimillion-dollar clean-up bill.

This week is unlikely to bring an immediate reprieve from the bone-chilling conditions which has pushed power demand to record levels, with another polar blast forecast to hit tonight. But plumbers called into fix burst pipes have found a silver lining in the cold snap as have the police, who say crime has fallen with the temperatures.

National climate centre Niwa yesterday confirmed what many frost-bitten Kiwis had suspected – that June was one of the coldest on record. The month had the coldest average temperature since 1972 and in parts of South Canterbury and North Otago the mean temperature was the lowest for the month in 50 years.

At Tara Hills, near Omarama, the mean temperature of minus 1 was the lowest since records began in 1950. Timaru and Fairlie also recorded their lowest mean temperature since records began with four and one degrees respectively. The maximum temperature in Christchurch did not top 10deg for the last two weeks of June.

Niwa records showed there were more days than average in June with air frost over much of New Zealand, especially in the south-east of the South Island and central North Island.

The country was hit by frequent blasts of cold southerly winds throughout June, contributing to the two heavy snow dumps. Christchurch was the coldest of the main centres, and the driest.

The cost of June's big snow storm is yet to be added up, but estimates of more than $70 million in lost production and crops for farmers and insurance claims have been suggested. As temperatures dropped last month New Zealanders snuggled up indoors in front of the heater and pushed power use to record highs.

Master Plumbers Canterbury president Graham Bond said plumbers in Mid, North and South Canterbury were 'totally run off their feet' and had been offering to pay Christchurch tradesmen's accommodation and premium rates to help get through the heavy workload. Christchurch plumber Peter Robinson said demand had increased greatly throughout last month's big chill and waiting times for non-urgent jobs were now up to two months.

Inspector Mike Coulter, of police Southern Communications Centre, said crime seemed to drop off in the colder months and last month had been no exception when the call centre was unusually quiet. 'Criminals are like anyone else – they don't want to be out running around in the cold,' he said.

The Metservice says another cold front is due to sweep across the South Island tonight and could bring snow or sleet showers to sea level in Southland, Canterbury, Otago and down to 100m on the Kaikoura coast. Snowfall was not predicted to be as heavy as last month when between 15cm and 90cm blanketed parts of the South.

Metservice forecaster Paul Bruce said temperatures would drop overnight and would hover around zero for much of tomorrow morning, which was when any snow or sleet would hit. Bruce said the cold snap could be brutal for South Island farmers who were lambing.

The latest cold snap comes as life was just starting to get back to normal for people hard hit by last month's massive snow storms, including hundreds of people in South Canterbury who have only just had power restored.

Fairlie farmer Gael Williams said another dump of snow would be a real 'kick in the pants' for South Canterbury farmers who were still struggling to get back on their feet. Williams said there was still plenty of snow in the Mackenzie District and in parts of South Canterbury frost covered the ground throughout the day. 'As late as Thursday farmers (in Fairlie) were still doing snow-raking, making tracks in the snow to get all the stock down from the hills,' Williams said.

- The Press

It's floods now.

Hope everyone in Wellie is OK and Natty's safe in Masterton.

This weather better improve..We'll be there in 5 weeks time!!

I hope everyone is surving OK.

If it's any conscillation Scotland hasn't had the best of weather either, one day it's glorious then the next 8 are filled with wind and rain.

We have to sit and watch Wimbledon and see everyone down south sunning themselves in glorious sunshine :icon_sad:

Bad weather and now comes the after effect.

Cabbages soon only for kings
Sunday July 9, 2006

Record low temperatures have sent vegetable prices through the roof - and they could stay that way. The harsh start to winter is laying waste to vegetable production throughout the country, damaging many June crops which otherwise would have been destined for the country's dinner tables.

Instead, those traditional winter crops have either been destroyed or have stopped growing because of persistent rainfall and below-zero temperatures in some parts of the country. Some vegetables are more than four times the prices they were a year ago. And vegetable wholesalers Turners and Growers is warning that the high prices could be here to stay if the cold snap lasts much longer.

The worst-hit vegetables have been winter favourites broccoli and cauliflower, which are now up to five times last year's price. A head of broccoli costs around $4 in most supermarkets, while cauliflower is selling for close to $5. Cabbages at $3.99 each, lettuces at $4.49, tomatoes at $8.65 a kilogram and silverbeet at $2.77 have also not been spared from the recent price rises. Other vegetables, such as carrots, have also also gone up in price as a result of the cold snap, but fortunately for shoppers not to the same degree.

The chief executive of industry marketing association Horticulture New Zealand, Peter Silcock, said the chilly conditions meant most growers couldn't get outside to plant or harvest crops, which had further lowered supply levels. Many crops were just waiting in the ground, unable to grow and unreachable by farmers. 'Supply of a whole range of vegetables is very low due to the bad weather we have had right across the country. Not just the snow and frost in the south, but there has also been a lot of rain and hail in the north. No one is having an easy time,' Mr Silcock said.

Normally when New Zealand produce is hit by bad weather, produce is imported from Queensland, but March's category five hurricane Larry, which devastated crops and levelled some Australian towns, put paid to that. The high prices have come as a shock to shoppers after years of good climatic conditions and abundant supply creating consistently low prices for fruit and vegetables.

'Consumers have had a very good couple of years with cheap vegetables and had good value for money ... that's why these prices are a bit of a shock,' Mr Silcock said. He said the situation had been difficult for growers, despite some perceptions that they were enjoying the high prices. 'Those growers that do have some produce are doing okay, but many don't have anything to sell.'

But he stressed that while prices seemed high, vegetables were still good value. 'Five dollars for a head of lettuce is still good value - that's two-and-a-half cappuccinos.'

- NZ Herald

Tornado rips through Hamilton
13 July 2006
By STAFF REPORTERS

Twin tornadoes destroyed a garage and ripped out trees from Hamilton to Eureka yesterday. Hail, heavy rain and gusting winds caused just as many problems in the city itself.

Eureka sharemilker Nick Jurgens was this morning counting his blessings, and his cows, after a pair of 40m-high tornadoes ripped through his property yesterday afternoon. One missed his farmhouse by metres, tore the roof off a double garage and tossed it across three paddocks. The other twister blew over a stand of poplar trees.

Mr Jurgens and another farm worker were in a paddock when they saw the tornadoes approaching about 1.30pm. He had seen tornadoes before, but yesterday's were the biggest he had encountered. 'We had to hold our ground.'

Mr Jurgens said there was nowhere to run had the twisters come toward them. The farm house was left with a smashed window and a buckled ranchslider. 'Another couple of metres and we would've lost the side of the house,' Mr Jurgens said.

Less lucky was his farm bike. 'I turned around and my four-wheel bike and trailer was going for a skate across the paddock.'

Further north, Ann Coster who lives on Greenhill Rd, northeast of Hamilton, was at home holding her 'terrified' dog when thunder, lightning and strong winds hit about 1pm. 'It was incredible,' she said. 'A 30 or 40-second storm and it was over. It was loud, banging and thumping, it happened so quickly.'

A neighbour had seen a tornado go past her house as branches and debris flew through the air. 'There were waves of white rain hitting the paddock and the wind was gusting,' Mrs Coster said.

She saw the top branches of a 30m-tall tree bend so far they were hitting the road below. 'I have never seen anything like it. I thought it (the tree) was going to go . . . the next second I heard something crash and the pergola was gone.'

Another neighbour, Sharon Wrenn, arrived home to six fallen trees along her driveway. 'It has taken the row out; this is a mammoth clean up job.'

MetService spokesman Ramon Oosterkamp said the small, localised storm that hit the Waikato was part of a messy broad trough from the Tasman Sea that moved across the North Island last night. 'The tornado was caused by a very active cold front bringing a burst of highly unstable air,' he said.

Tornados occur during thunderstorms when an updraft of air moves very quickly, causing the wind to spin. Hail forms when rain drops are blown high into the air and freeze. They become heavier and fall but can be blown up again, getting bigger each time until they are heavy enough to fall to the ground.

From midday yesterday Hamilton received 28mm of rain, 9.5mm of that between 1pm and 2pm. A further 11mm fell last night. Te Kuiti got 23mm, the Kaimai Summit 26mm and Taupo 18.5mm.

The MetService said much of the bad weather had now passed. The forecast is for cloud and some showers today and tomorrow.

YIKES! Are tornadoes a frequent or normal phenomena in NZ? And I thought we were getting away from the hurricanes and tornadoes of Florida....we are so tired of them!