SOGGY NORTH AND CENTRAL NZ BUT DRY SOUTH

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SOGGY NORTH AND CENTRAL NZ BUT DRY SOUTH

24/08/2008 4:50am

The big wet moved south over central parts of the country today but despite this, temperatures were quite decent, well for most of us.

Whangarei held firmly to the highest temperature in the land with 19 degrees, whereas it was a different story in Canterbury, with Hororata coming in with just 6 degrees, Methven and Hanmer Springs on 7 and Timaru and Ashburton struggling to make 8 degrees.
In stark contrast to that, on the other side of the Alps, Milford Sound got to 14 and Haast, a balmy 16, which is about 8 degrees above the August average.

Auckland today managed 17, Hamilton 15, Wellington a little cooler with 12, Christchurch 10 and Dunedin topped 11 degrees.

Tonight ,the soaking continues for many but the cloud cover should keep temperatures above average but certainly no ‘Hot August Night ‘.

The overnight lows tonight, generally remain in double figures throughout most of the North Island, but the coolest part of the nation should be in Central Otago and most of Southland, with a frost on the cards but at least dry conditions should prevail over the next few days for most southern areas.

WEATHER ANALYST RICHARD GREEN

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JohnGaul on 24/08/2008 10:44am

Wind did go easterly from 7pm with a slight increase of temperature.
17.2mm of rain here to 10pm

JohnGaul
NZTS

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JohnGaul on 24/08/2008 5:41am

Overcast and rainy all day, here in West Melton,with light winds from mainly the WSW.
What makes me interested about this event and similar events in the past, why is the wind direction, if any, is from the WSW/SW when this is obviously an easterly event?

JohnGaul
NZTS

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WW Forecast Team on 24/08/2008 6:21am

Hi JohnGaul – can only think of a couple explanations. One is that the Southern Alps are having an affect…much like a rock in the river diverts the angle of the water around it, mountains do the same to air. There is definitely a south’easterly swing happening over the southern Canterbury region at the moment. Another reason is that the winds are relatively light around your area… and perhaps the Port Hills are creating a "swirl" affect (much like that rock in the river) to the air stream. Latest observations show the air is definitely moving in from the east overall.

Thanks for the feedback

The Weather Watch Team

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F√∂ehn on 24/08/2008 5:02am

40mm rain, fell in Papakura in 24 hours to 3pm Sunday 24 August

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WW Forecast Team on 24/08/2008 5:46pm

Thanks for the info and that just adds to the water tables which are overflowing!

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