Tropical heat smothers Auckland, thunderstorms track south towards Taupo
26/11/2013 2:32am
Intense afternoon heating has not only seen Auckland reach record heat again today but is also fuelling large thunderstorms and torrential downpours over WAIKATO and CENTRAL PLATEAU as of 3:30pm.
Rainfall rates may be high enough to cause localised surface and flash flooding. Hail and funnel clouds are also possible.
In South Auckland the rain appears to tracking SE over the Hunua ranges now – most of the city is dry.
Meanwhile Auckland hit 26 degrees this afternoon – same as the record high of 26 this past Saturday. However coupled with humidity WeatherWatch.co.nz says the ‘feels like’ temperature is 32 degrees this afternoon for some – which is why it feels hotter today for many than it did on Saturday with the same air temperature.
WeatherWatch.co.nz says with sunny spells moving over the city at the moment, coupled with the hottest time of the day, it’s possible the record may be reset this afternoon if the mercury inches even just a little higher.
South of Wellington people are lighting fires and heaters as some places struggle to even reach the teens.
The main activity as of 3:30pm was tracking southwards towards LAKE TAUPO, including State Highway one between Tokoroa and Taupo.
– WeatherWatch.co.nz
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Pam on 26/11/2013 9:56am
We got the wrath of that thunderstorm this afternoon south of Rotorua, in Ngakuru, continuous thunder for 20 mins with torrential rain! haven’t heard thunder like that since I left South Africa 6 years ago!! Was really something!
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AUCKLAND on 26/11/2013 3:48am
turned up the brightness on my screen and it said AUCKLANDWEATHERWATCHCO.NZ. Seems every article on here includes Auckland in some way. Just saying. Also the amount of times Auckland is mentioned in the videos always makes me laugh.
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WW Forecast Team on 26/11/2013 4:09am
We get complaints everytime we run stories on Auckland! But Auckland and Waikato were the weather news makers today and in recent days. We get people complaining whenever we focus on *any* region but our research shows we actually produce more news content about the South Island than the North Island over a 12 month period.
Cheers
WW
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Guest on 26/11/2013 5:46pm
The South Island is 33% bigger than the North Island. It has the hottest, coldest, driest and wettest weather this country gets. So with it being bigger and getting more extreme and ‘interesting’ weather, you could argue it should probably get twice as much coverage.
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WW Forecast Team on 26/11/2013 7:11pm
Yes but it all comes down to one thing – public interest. And the North Island has the bulf of the population. Our website is a free service so we target the bulk of the population – our news stories have to be population focused for us to survive, like any other business you go where the demand is.
WW
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Guest on 27/11/2013 12:45am
I agree, but the irony in that is the largest chunk of the population are in one area (Auckland) they are living that weather anyway and so there shouldn’t be a need to be told what they have experienced. Learning and understanding about other parts (and arguably more interesting) should be preferable. But of course this is not the case, as most of us like the attention on ourselves.
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Arid on 26/11/2013 3:12am
Do you think we’ll get any rain in Tauranga, nothing more than about 3 spits all day, despite most websites saying rain was a dead cert. Very frustrating – everything is bone dry! Cheers….
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WW Forecast Team on 26/11/2013 3:34am
Hi there – no rain was dead certain today for Tauranga – we had a risk of thunderstorms and showers in the area but we went out of our way to say any rain on Tuesday especially would be hit and miss. Tomorrow night and Thursday mornign you have a shot at some very heavy rain – keep an eye on our rain maps above and you’ll see what we’re talking about! Hopefully you’ll get a nice soaking over there.
Cheers
WW
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