Weather Forecast for Christchurch
Summary of Christchurch
Forecast analysed and prepared by
Now in Christchurch
Observed at 2:03pm from:
Riccarton (ICHRIS33)
Current conditions by The Weather Company
Today in Christchurch
Forecast analysed and prepared by
Tonight in Christchurch
Forecast analysed and prepared by
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Before asking us a question:
We love to have comments and questions posted here at WeatherWatch.co.nz - but before you ask a long range weather question (ie, beyond our 10 day forecast above) please check our interactive maps page first! This link will take you to our Rain, Wind, Swell, Temperature maps and more - going out 10 days.
Comments
Saturday low of 4 deg ?
Hi, Is there another cold front heading this way?
Hi there No cold front. Just
Hi there
No cold front. Just an anticyclone coming in bringing clearing skies :)
Cheers
WW
When are we ever going to see
When are we ever going to see some proper sunshine?
Summer?! Looks sunnier this
Summer?! Looks sunnier this week - but middle of winter now, the amount of long sunny days are extremely limited for the next 2 months.
- WW
Forecast temperatures
The "this evening' parts of your city forecasts from New Plymouth, Wanganui and Palmerston North for 23/6 are really up the shoot. The temperature predictions give Lo/Hi figures - but in all cases the Lows are highers/above the Highs - and in fact the actual temperature is lower than the forecast Low/Hi. They 5-6 degrees out.
I know they are computer generated - but when they are so bad, why use them? It's particularly risky currently as these cold temperatures are of concern to orchardists/growers etc.
Where do you get the actual temperature readings from?
Thanks.
Low temp comes first (as
Low temp comes first (as coldest weather is first thing in the morning) then high temp is after. We have plans to clarify the "this evening" forecasts, but we are a very small company without the massive tax funded resources that NIWA and MetService have. We have the raw data out of demand from the public - and we are working to grow our detailed forecasts each time a new client invests in us.
We don't display live current temps as MetService has won at making it too expensive for us to buy (free in all other western nations). Last year they lifted the prices for us to report just how hot it got at your place from $1200 a year to close to 30K a year. It's a joke.
Cheers
Philip Duncan
Another thing - if the number
Another thing - if the number in large font number is not the actual temperature - then what is it representing? Is it forecast model data for that moment in time I view the forecast?????
Large bold temp: If it's
Large bold temp: If it's during daylight hours then that is the maximum temp we expect. If it's evening then the most likely evening Temp, and if it's after midnight then it's the overnight low. We're making changes to clarify this (and other issues) in the near future. At thje moment our focus is on our App that we're building - and will be launched soon for Free.
PD
The public demand that data
The public demand that data even though it's wonky? That's bizarre. Why do people want that????
Maybe I was not clear, sorry. I meant that in the 'Evening' part of your forecast the Lo/Hi temps (which I presume is for the evening period?) showed the Low as being a higher number than the High. In other words, the 'evening'; forecast (I imagine evening as 6pm to 10pm) as having a temp range of a Low of 13 and a High of 9 when the actual temp was already was something like 5....it's more that that sequence is up the creek as well as the numbers being completely crook and not cottoning on to a cold frosty evening following a wicked southerly (dying out).
And point of difference. The min isn't always in the morning. In the case of a northwest fohn over Canterbury you could get a temp up to (eg) 24 in the morning then a southerly blasts through in the afternoon and the temp drops to (eg) 14. This is an occasional event - usually in spring.
Cheerypip.
typical yet again clear over
typical yet again clear over night rain returns at dawn.
Snow last night?
Can u confirm
Can\t confirm - but snow
Can\t confirm - but snow fell on Mt Te Aroha on a fairly low ridge so we think the tops of the Hunuas got a dusting. No other Auckland hills though.
- WW
Phone exploded?
"WeatherWatch.co.nz also received a confirmed report of a phone landline which exploded after a lightning strike."
Hi, Just curious whether that's in Auckland and which part of Auckland. Thanks.
Heard it was in Te Atatu
Heard it was in Te Atatu South - but not 100% sure sorry. Definitely in Auckland - and we saw a photo of it too but unable to republish.
Cheers
WW
Wind
Love the site and your approach to forecasting. Great to have another independent take on things to build up the picture of what weather might turn up.
One request. Many of us who track the weather closely are sailors, boaties, fishers, and pilots (I am all 4), I generally prefer your forecasts but really struggle with the wind terms you use, particularly on the longer range forecast, you seem to alternate between breezes, winds, gusty, blustery etc and rarely give any leads on expected strengths. I think in knots but am happy to convert from km/hr which you use for the short forecasts.
Would it be possible for you to explain/define the standard terms you use for wind in the longer forecasts and link them to a wind range or the beaufort scale. Ie if we see fresh breezes we then know you mean somewhere in the order of Force 5 @ 17-21 knots
Thanks
Hi there - thanks very much
Hi there - thanks very much for the message and glad to hear you prefer what we do. I absolutely hear you - we have always enjoyed using more creative words to describe the weather - wind speed, however, is one area we've admittedly been inconsistent in at times. We're hoping to have a more uniform approach in the coming months - and maybe adding a few new fun creative words in the mix too - as this often explains the weather better, but there's that fine line where it can sound too casual and therefore not accurate enough for someone such as yourself. So watch this space - our more creative style will soon have a key to help explain and make things clearer.
Thanks for your support - and we really do appreciate the constructive feedback, it's how I've grown the site to what it is now,
Cheers
Philip Duncan
Thanks
Thanks, I don't mind terms like 'nine tenths of bugger all' or 'blowing the sheep backwards' as long as I know what they mean and they are used consistently. Weather forecasts shouldn't be boring after all :)
Haha! We've had a few people
Haha! We've had a few people ask us to try using some typical kiwi sayings, like "Sweet as" for example. Who knows - but it's fun to be creative so long as consistent. :)
Phil
Lightning Tracker
There has been a problem with the lightning tracker over the last 24 hours, keeps coming up with an error message saying my "security settings have blocked an application from running with an insecure or expired jre." i have tried on several computers and come up with the same message, no settings have been changed
Just to let you know
Cheers Nick
Hi, I had that problem too
Hi, I had that problem too with the Grey Lynn tracker yesterday. Had to download and reinstall Java, and that fixed it. Not sure what caused the problem though!
Our tech says it's a Java
Our tech says it's a Java update - people need to update to the latest Java to view it. In saying that, we're working on finding alternatives to the tracker as we know it's not perfect. We wish MetService would free up their lightning tracker instead - afterall, it's owned by the public. We only run this service because they wont free up this publicly owned data, which we believe is important for safety reasons.
- WW
Thunder storms
Hi Guys. The thunder storms we had over St Johns last night were the loudest I have ever heard! Why is it when previously we have had thunder overhead it has never been so loud as last night - made our little house (and us!) tremble!
I'm not an expert on this one
I'm not an expert on this one but I believe really cold air can help make thunder sound lounder. I've noticed that here in Canterbury if there's been a thunderstorm and it's quite cold, the thunder sounds lounder then usual.
Just looked it up actually, here's something to help you out! :)
http://www.weather.com/blog/weather/8_24331.html
WW
Thunderstorms
Thanks for that - really interesting - love that you guys do so much to help us mere weather mortals understand!
Our pleasure! :) - WW
Our pleasure! :)
- WW
Haha yes I am in St Johns and
Haha yes I am in St Johns and wow it was sooo loud wasn't it! Freaked my cat out!
Agree - stunning
Agree - stunning thunderstorms, quite scary for a while! Quite impressive
PD
Hail
I was standing outside and could hear this almighty roar coming from a distance and it got louder and louder then i realized it was hail on the rooftops coming towards me like a wave it was the most crazy-est sound ive ever heard..then it hailed like mad the streets are white out west
I've heard that happen in
I've heard that happen in Christchurch before too in the past, it can sound quite eerie!
Here is the report I wrote about that storm: http://tinyurl.com/qjjc8cw
Cheers
WW
Storm out west
wow by far the most hail ive ever seen in ranui out west..the thunder and lightning has been impressive and i haven't heard thunder like that in my life wow..More to come i hope im recording the lightning on the ipad..
Definately sounded like it
Definately sounded like it was loud! Check this out:
http://www.weather.com/blog/weather/8_24331.html
Cheers
WW
Thunder
Yeah it was loud, even the cat was frightened and stayed under the bed!
This is some storm
The thunder and lighting is amazing. The Hail came down so thick and fast before it covered the road like snow! It's just amazing!
What's up with th thunder in
What's up with th thunder in west Auckland?
Storm
Hi there whens this ment to hit papakura?
Enjoying the Storm
My decks and driveway are white from the heavy hail storm we had half an hour ago. Looks like its too cold outside in pukekohe for it to melt away and my sister just had a really hard time driving down our steep road and had to leave her car parked on another road and walk as she was slipping all over the place. Never seen hail stick around like this. Glad to be inside where its warm.
Love it!
Awesome thunderstorm, hail and rain here in Tuakau - keeping cosy and warm in front of the fire...got to love winter when you're warm and dry inside!
Yes that is the nice part
Yes that is the nice part about winter I agree :) Awesome that you have a thunderstorm, I haven't seen one in a while!
Aaron, WW
Wind Gusts
Hi There
Just wondering if you believe that the wind gusts out of Auckland late tomorrow afternoon will be severe enough to delay / cancel international flights?
It may well be gusty but you
It may well be gusty but you should be ok :)
Cheers
WW
Chance of snow in Auckland?
Chance of snow in Auckland? LOL. I really want it to snow.
Might be hard out of luck
Might be hard out of luck unfortunately :( No snow this time.
WW
Driving to Coromandel
Supposed to be driving to coromandel tomorrow evening, what are your thoughts? Thanks
You'll be fine :) WW
You'll be fine :)
WW
To the admin
I look at both metserivce nz and weather watch nz , it is hard for me to say which one is the best . I probably prefer to come to weather watch , due to i think it is more accurate , plus i find good articles on daily basis , and most important , i love that questions get answered by admin , so i big thanks for weather watch admin , thanks so much and also people should be liking that also .
Now my question is not only about the weather but to weather watch i say ,do you have your own satellites or you really on someone else , im asking this because i have noticed that between metservice and weatherwatch there is a sometimes a small or huge weather reading in which i get really confused which one should i believe it trying to be accurate , just recently i visiting metservice and they said weekend looks fine though cold still remains while weather watch says odd showers still visible on saturday ,so take that as an example i hope it makes sense . So basically is this due to whats showing on the radar or your predictions .
thanks
Hi there -thanks for your
Hi there -thanks for your question. We no longer monitor MetService forecasts - we use entirely independent data via the US Govt, a private US firm and a NZ company called MetOcean - then we create our own forecasts from that. Like any competiting businesses we have different ways of reading the weather. We let the public judge who they prefer. Neither is perfect and both say they are the best! So we let the public decide. But our forecasts are 100% seperate from MetService - and we're very proud of what we've achived without the huge tax funding they have.
Glad to have you along - and thanks for taking the time to write in.
Cheers
Philip Duncan.
How accurate is the Sunday
How accurate is the Sunday forecast? As in MetService they shown an opposite forecast to here - Sat fine spell, while Sun shower.
It will remain wet and
It will remain wet and windy,another low coming straight down from the north next week,until then it be wet with southwesterlies.
Hi there, we don't monitor
Hi there, we don't monitor their predictions because they flip flop too much. Our forecast is about to updated in the next couple of hours - both Sat and Sun have shower risks. The reason for the two forecasters being around the other way is because really this is just about wind direction - Sat could become dry then Sun a few showers form in the SWer. But you can also argue a few showers may linger on Sat morning and Sun could be mostly dry at first! Either way - we expect the weekend to be mostly dry but very cold on Saturday with a risk of an early shower. Sunday also has a low risk of a few showers and cloudy spells from the Tasman. Check for our update this evening.
- WW
hPa
1017 hPa - for Auckland, I think you may want to 'tap the glass' and see if the mercury moves!
Your stats for 1400 20/6/13:
Rain: 80%
Humidity: 57%
Wind: W 55kph Sunrise: 07:36
Sunset: 17:08
Barometer: 1017hPa
Regards
Andrew