Hi phill and weather watch is the weather event new zealand getting la nina like?

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to Phil and all the WW watch team!
Thanks for all the great work you all do, and the way that Phil explains everything so well in layman’s terms on the videos. I’ve followed you since WW’s early days and enjoy learning new things all the time about our weather.
My question is about lightning. I have heard that it is the same all over the world, whether it’s seen as forked lightning or sheet lightning as we do in NZ. Is that true? If so, why do we see it differently?
Thanks

Love you guys so much. You my only weather news, the only other is MSN. Well, you are my go-to check on the weather people.

This is the 3rd year in a row we’ve had great weather coming into the Xmas break….awful for most of the break…then improves once everyone is back at work.

I’m beginning to think the weather God’s hate me

Hi Phil/WW, Firstly I think you guys do an amazing job! While not always accurate, it is still the best of the NZ weather reporting sites!
Something that annoys the hell out of me though is the talk of ‘Meteorological Seasons’!! There can be only one! Here’s my take on it:
If you were tasked with a new way of keeping time, do you think you’d come up with the most illogical concept that is currently humanity’s time keeping system!
The only thing that is real is the concept of a ‘day’ (one full revolution of the earth) and a ‘year’ (one full revolution of the earth around the sun). The concept however of seconds, minutes, hours, weeks and months make no sense at all and just dreamt up by some moron two thousand years ago and come from a system of measure most of which is based on the figure twelve! WHY…..who knows!!
If you are going to have ‘seasons’ at all, because lets face it – they are just a measure of one years average weather extreme’s, then they MUST coincide with something real. Something that is real are the Solstices and Equinox and are the true (and ONLY) start of each season!

Absolutely ridiculous forecast for “Auckland” from Met service for 26 Dec.
Issued at 8:10 am Fri 26 December, the forecast is valid to midnight – more than 15 hours with no updates in between. Not the first time they have issued such a “blanket” forecast that just doesn’t pan out. Very little evidence of predicted “moderate risk of thunderstorms with heavy rain associated”. Slackers if you ask me. Perhaps the Moderate: 30-60% should be reviewed? Etc.