WeatherWatch.co.nz readers have overwhelmingly announced that this winter is a fairly good one in a recent WeatherWatch Poll.

Visitors were asked how they rated the winter so far for 2010

RESULTS…

I’m loving it 39%

It’s no different to other years 50%

It’s horrible 11%

Almost 90% indicated they were loving the weather or found it no worse than other years. Just 11% said it was horrible.

WeatherWatch.co.nz head weather analyst Philip Duncan says it’s an indication that the weather really hasn’t been too extreme this winter. “Yes, we’ve seen some flooding, thunderstorms and snow but so far they have been isolated to mostly smaller communities. While devastating for those in parts of eastern Bay of Plenty and northern Otago the big cities such as Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch really haven’t seen much wintry damage”.

Mr Duncan says most severe weather events this year have been away from the big centres with no major snowfalls, thunderstorms or gales so far.