Better weather forecasts promised

The Dominion Post | Monday, 1 October 2007

An automated weather station fitted to Pacifica Shipping's Spirit of Competition, which plies New Zealand's coastal waters six nights a week, is helping the MetService improve the quality of its land and marine forecasts.

The weather station sends wind, temperature and barometric data every 60 seconds to the MetService via a Vodafone connection.

Previously, a manual report on weather conditions was transmitted at midnight by the ship's crew on each 12-hour voyage between Lyttelton and Wellington.

Julie Fletcher, the MetService's manager of marine observations, says adapting land-based automatic weather stations for use at sea presented some technical challenges.

"The wind speed and direction data, for example, have to be corrected for the ship's course and speed under changing conditions."

She says MetService would like to put automated weather stations on other coastal vessels to improve marine forecasts.

Rod Grout, the chief executive of Pacifica Shipping, says the company was pleased to provide its 5000 tonne vessel for the weather station and be would happy to volunteer its other ship, Spirit of Resolution, which sails off the west coast of the North Island.

"Our ships' masters and officers have provided weather information manually for the past 22 years and the new system relieves them of some responsibilities," he says.

"However, they will continue to send manual observations of sea swell, cloud cover and visibility, as these conditions are not recorded by the automatic station."

La Nina promises warm summer

The Dominion Post | Monday, 1 October 2007

Viva La Nina - the start of the golden weather for summer is being heralded, with a warmer and drier climate predicted till the end of the year.

Just in time for daylight saving, which began yesterday, Niwa said it was forecasting above-average temperatures for the last three months of the year, maybe even lasting through till the end of summer.

This is because weak La Nina conditions have developed in the equatorial Pacific, creating weaker westerly winds, with more winds from the east and northeast.

Forecasters say there is a 50-50 chance that the warm weather will linger through to summer's end.

Though sun-worshippers are unlikely to notice, the weather pattern also slightly reduces the chance of former tropical cyclones affecting New Zealand. But though the golden weather is on the way, Kiwis may have to wait a few days for it to arrive. MetService issued a heavy rainfall warning yesterday for the west coast of the South Island, the Nelson ranges and the Tararua range north of Wellington.

Eruption debris may extend snow seasons

2 Oct 2007 Massey University

Debris-covered snow and ice on Mt Ruapehu.

Skiers and snowboarders may have the recent eruption to thank for an extended ski season, says University glaciologist Dr Martin Brook.

Dr Brook is a lecturer in physical geography who has specialised in the study of glaciers. On hearing of the eruption last Tuesday, he and a team headed up Mt Ruapehu to install monitoring equipment to assess the glaciological response.

“The eruption dumped a lot of volcanic material on the upper snowfields at Ruapehu, which act as source accumulation areas collecting snow,” he says. “This is in turn turns into firm snow and then glacier ice for the Whakapapa Glacier in particular. As we are now moving into the spring and summer melting season, where the sun is at a higher angle, and the days are longer, snow and glacier ice on Ruapehu usually melts rapidly until the following autumn.  However, this year, there is now debris cover on the ice of varying thickness, so this will protect the snow and ice from melting in the accumulation area, keeping a base of snow and ice in place for a longer than usual. That also gives us the tantalising prospect of enhanced snow at the beginning of the autumn ski season in 2008.”

Were the layer of debris thinner - or thicker - it would have a different impact.

“Melting is enhanced under debris up to about 8mm thick, due to absorption of shortwave radiation from the sun. The debris re-emits this as long-wave radiation into the adjacent snow and ice. This is because dark colours have a low reflectivity, and do not reflect sunlight like lighter colours do. However, with a debris cover thicker than about eight to 10mm, this actually acts to insulate the ice and snow below, as the debris is too thick for any radiation received at the surface to be transmitted downwards to the snow below.”

Storms bring holiday chaos

Tuesday October 02, 2007 NZ Herald By Elizabeth Binning  and Alanah May Eriksen 

A car copes with the surface flooding in Taharoto Rd,Takapuna. 33mm of rain fell in 3 hours.

Extreme spring weather brought chaos to parts of the country yesterday, causing flight cancellations, road accidents and widespread minor flooding to homes.

The long-range forecast for the rest of the school holiday is more misery to come as yesterday's "topsy-turvey weather" also left emergency services workers struggling to keep up in parts of the country.

Carla Salinger of Weatherwise Auckland said Helensville in west Auckland got the worst of the storm, with about 33mm of rain between 2pm and 5pm.

A pedestrian is engulfed in sea-spray, whipped-up by severe gale-force winds, as he walks along Evan Bay Parade in Wellington. Wind reached 126km/h in the Wellington surburb of Kelburn.

In Wellington, gusts of over 120km/h disrupted commuter traffic and caused flight delays and cancellations, one from Auckland and one from Dunedin.  The strongest gust in the region yesterday was 128km/h, recorded on Mount Kaukau.

A severe wind warning for Wellington, Wairarapa and Hawkes Bay was likely to be lifted by today, but the Met Service warned wind gusts would not be far below the warning level - gusts of 120km/h-plus.  Met Service spokesman Bob McDavitt said the "topsy-turvey" weather was expected to bring cold southerly winds over the North Island tomorrow, which could bring a small amount of snow to low levels.

"This changeable and unsettled weather is typical of spring and is starting later than normal this year.

Maharey at sea over robot float launch

Wednesday October 03, 2007

Minister of Research, Science and Technology Steve Maharey wasn't sure how to officially launch a robotic float but the crew of the RV Kaharoa were on hand yesterday to assist.

The floats are the ocean equivalent of weather balloons and the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (Niwa) vessel will release the 3000th float, in a global project called Argo, on a trip from Wellington to Chile.

Mr Maharey helped dip the float in Wellington harbour and it was retrieved for a proper launch later.

Many of the floats are launched by commercial vessels but Niwa agreed to help, particularly in the southern Pacific where there were not many commercial vessels, said Professor Dean Roemmich, from Scripps Institute of Oceanography in San Diego and co-chairman of the International Argo Steering Group.

The floats launched by Niwa had provided some of the most interesting information collected by the project.

Niwa has launched 439 floats for the global project and on one occasion, on a voyage to Mauritius, the Kaharoa was boarded by pirates.

Most of the floats launched by Niwa are paid for by the United States - they cost about $20,000 each - and US ambassador William McCormick attended yesterday's ceremony to reflect on the co-operation between the two countries on the project.

The floats, which stay in the sea for up to five years, are pre-programmed.

They drop to 1000m and drift at that depth for about nine days then drop to 2000m before surfacing and transmitting information on ocean currents, temperature and salinity, helping the understanding of climate change.

The Argo Project

* Argo is a global array of 3000 free-drifting profiling floats that measure the temperature and salinity of the upper 2000m of the ocean.

* This allows continuous monitoring of the temperature, salinity, and velocity of the upper ocean, with all data being relayed and made publicly available within hours after collection.

* In Greek mythology, Argo was the ship in which Jason and the Argonauts set sail to search for the golden fleece.

- NZPA

Want the sun? Just wait a minute

NZ Herald  Thursday October 04, 2007 By Stuart Dye 

Grey skies over Auckland. Photo / Dean Purcell.

One minute people were reaching for sunglasses, the next for coats and umbrellas as October's bizarre weather fluctuated wildly from glorious sunshine to hailstones.

The four-seasons-in-one-day weather that has plagued New Zealand and disrupted school holiday plans will continue today as another front sweeps up the country from the south.

In Auckland, baking sun, downpours, swirling winds and hailstones followed each other in quick succession. Temperatures fluctuated between 8C and 16C. The west of the Auckland region was drenched in more than 22mm of rain, but less than 8mm fell to the south.

The unsettled weather is being caused by cold air from the south crossing warming oceans. Planes, ferry services and road travel were disrupted yesterday, although with no major accidents.

Fresh spring snow sprinkles the south

By STAFF REPORTERS - The Southland Times | Thursday, 4 October 2007

JOHN HAWKINS/Southland Times/Image ID 111792

SNOWY SPRING: Fresh snow covering the hills near Old Coach Rd created a scenic drive for early morning traffic travelling along the Ferndale section of the road yesterday. The road runs from Clinton to Mataura.

It is somewhat ironic that Lakes District mountains received good snowfall just as the ski season winds down. The Remarkables, which is still open, reported receiving up to 20cm of fresh snow in the past two days.

It snowed lightly out in the Maniototo first thing in the morning as well, but the only place it settled was on the hills.

MetService forecaster Andy Downs said the recent weather patterns were typical of spring where several days of gusty north westerlies were followed by a cold snap.

Mr Downs said MetService had received reports that snow had fallen down to 200m around Clinton and Lumsden, while the Homer Tunnel, which sits 900m above sea level, received 20cm of snow.

Bay battered then frosted as weather cooks up bizarre mix

Hawke’s Bay Today, 04.10.2007 JOE DAWSON

J

High winds ripped through the Bay yesterday, dislodging this billboard. PICTURE: CAMERON BURNELL

High winds gusting to 83kmh in Napier yesterday gave way to calm cold conditions later in the evening, seeing Hawke's Bay wake to a stunning clear day this morning, and in places to the sound of frost-fighting helicopters.

Metservice forecaster Paul Bruce said a cold southerly air flow drifted through the region, taking the air temperature in Hastings to -1deg and in Napier and Takapau to 2deg, with ground temperatures two or three degrees lower. But despite the high winds, the temperature drop had been forecast.

Bursting of lake's banks edges closer

NZ Herald Friday October 05, 2007 By Edward Gay 

The newly-formed lake at Mt Aspiring. Photo / Otago Daily Times

The South Island's newest lake is on the rise, with the water level nearing the top of the bank after heavy rain overnight.

The lake was formed after a landslide created a natural dam on the Young River that winds its way through the Mt Aspiring National Park.

"If it stays where it is and ends up being a lake then it will be spectacular," Mr Winder said.

Internet trouble in the capital

NZPA | Sunday, 7 October 2007

Communication problems affected a number of Internet Service Providers around Wellington yesterday.  The Dominion Post, the New Zealand Press Association and the MetService were among those affected.

It is understood the problem was caused by a faulty switch somewhere in the Wellington central business district, which was causing other switches to go down.  CityLink engineers were working to isolate the faulty switch and by about 5.30pm yesterday things appeared to be back to normal.

"I'd like to thank those who helped restore our communications so quickly," MetService chief information officer Russell Turner said.

"During the event special work was done to ensure that there was minimal disruption to the flow of weather information for our critical customers."

Wild nor'westers 'a taste of things to come'

The Dominion Post | Monday, 8 October 2007

WET AND WINDY: October and November are New Zealand's windiest months.

Wild northwesterlies, which cut a swath through central New Zealand down to Canterbury, are just a taste of things to come, warn meteorologists.

Gusts of up to 150kmh whipped Beacon Hill and the top of the Rimutakas yesterday, prompting police to advise motorists to exercise extreme caution, especially while driving in the Rimutakas.

MetService forecaster Andy Downs said it had been "a vigorous spring".

Wairarapa was also hit by gales, and Horowhenua and Manawatu had torrential rain. A fierce thunder-and-lightning storm lashed Wellington about 7pm last night.

Storm-force northwesterly winds gusting up to 148kmh caused chaos across Canterbury before dawn yesterday, cutting power to thousands of homes and lifting roofs.

Flood warning for upper North Island, landslips likely

NZ Herald  Tuesday October 09, 2007 By Juliet Rowan 

A young boy tests the floodwaters on St Albans Grove, alongside the Hutt River. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Weather forecasters said there was potential for localised flooding and slips in the upper North Island, following chaos caused by torrential rain and strong winds in central regions yesterday. Police issued warnings for motorists to take extra care yesterday after heavy rain overnight caused flooding on highways and roads.

On State Highway 2 between Upper Hutt and Petone, water on the road reached up to 300mm deep and, in Lower Hutt, police scrambled to get people to move their cars from carparks and roads when the Hutt River flooded. In the six hours to 11am, 150mm of rain fell, peaking at 33mm an hour.

Winds reaching 150km/h blasted the Rimutaka Hill Rd, and in the Wairarapa, the Fire Service attended more than a dozen jobs involving trees blown onto roads.

In the South Island, gusts of up to 110km/h were recorded, while Civil Defence officials monitored rivers and lakes swollen by days of rain. Rock falls were reported on some roads and motorists were warned to be wary of flooding in alpine areas.

Fierce gusts no show-stopper for stallholders

Hawke’s Bay Today 17.10.2007

 More FM promotions manager Trudy Godwin battles the wind at Hawke's Bay showgrounds. PICTURE: DUNCAN BROWN

Despite huge winds wreaking havoc for stallholders in the lead-up to the Hawke's Bay Show which opened today, there was nothing that couldn't be overcome with a bit of practical problem-solving.

Show veteran Les Vesty, who runs Animal World, had to leave his Central Hawke's Bay home at 4am today to set up on time, and his journey north was not without event.

"State Highway 50 was blocked by a tree. I had to pull over and get my chainsaw out and take the tops off and pull stuff off the road to get through.

"The Pony Express always gets through," he laughed. When he got to the show grounds at Hastings at 5:30am the wind was so strong he saw a fully erected tent blow through the air and roll around on top of other tents. But by opening time at 8am everything was put to rights.

One stallholder put to the test was the More FM team, whose marquee was ruined by strong winds yesterday afternoon, leaving them with the unenviable task of having to find a new tent at the 11th hour.  Promotions manager Trudy Godwin said she had hire-company phone numbers written all the way up her arm.  "We managed to hire the last marquee in Hawke's Bay," she said.

Windy weather is expected for the rest of today, with rain tomorrow and possibly a frost on Saturday morning, the MetService has reported.

Forecaster Richard Finnie said he expected the northwest gale force winds in Hastings and Napier to ease this afternoon but that would be followed by showers.

* Flight plans at Hawke's Bay Airport this morning were scuttled by strong winds. Even the east-west cross runway was unable to be used as unpredictable gusts surged to gale force at times between 6am and mid-morning. Some gusts were more than 100km/h in exposed places in the region.

Strong winds forecast for holiday weekend

NZ Herald Thursday October 18, 2007

Prepare for more of this. Photo / Michael Craig

Vigorous spring westerly winds are forecast for the Labour holiday weekend, MetService said today.

National Forecast Centre manager Peter Kreft said most of New Zealand would be under the influence of a ridge of high pressure, resulting in widespread fine weather on Friday. "However, cold showery southerlies should persist in northern Hawke's Bay and Gisborne for a fair bit of the day," he said.

Westerly winds will be strong and gusty in many places on and off from later on Saturday, posing a particular hazard for those on central New Zealand roads.

Eastern areas from Bay of Plenty to Canterbury should be fine and mild, while the west of both islands is expected to be cloudy and cooler, with showers from time to time.

- NZPA, NZ HERALD STAFF

Snow today, but get your togs ready for the weekend

By JOHN KEAST - The Press | Thursday, 18 October 2007

JOHN KEAST/The Press

These pictures were taken at 10am today near the top of Spur Road, which runs between Raincliff and Fairlie in South Canterbury.

Higher parts of South Canterbury got a good dusting on snow overnight, with isolated sleet and snow showers this morning but the forecast for Labour Weekend looks more promising.

Five to six centimeters of snow lay on south-facing slopes this morning but was not expected to last on warm spring ground, or to worry stock.

Temperatures were around 5deg this morning but skies were brightening.

Holidaymakers around the South Island can look forward to a balmy weekend thanks to a high moving over the country.

Nobel Peace Prize 2007 winners- World can still fight warming

Monday October 22, 2007 By Angela Gregory 

Photo / Bloomberg

Climate Change

• Nordic nations sound alarm over melting Arctic
• Brian Fallow: Get real on climate change

Dr Jim Salinger composts his food scraps and uses energy-efficient light bulbs, while Dr David Wratt uses public transport and plants trees.

But the personal contributions of the Niwa climate scientists in tackling the issue of global warming go way beyond commitments to reduce their carbon footprints.

For years the pair have devoted huge amounts of time to the work of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) which was this month awarded a Nobel Peace Prize.

The organisation shares the prize with former United States Vice-President Al Gore for his film An Inconvenient Truth, in recognition of their efforts to raise awareness and impetus around the threat of climate change.

While Gore might have got star billing in his attention-grabbing documentary on the frightening implications of human-induced global warming, the platform on which he launched it was thanks to the work of the IPCC scientists.

The IPCC is an international body of scientists and officials who have collaborated to assess the available scientific literature on climate change.

Among them have been about 30 New Zealand researchers who have contributed their expertise to the organisation which was established in 1998 by the World Meteorological Organisation and the United Nations Environment Programme.

Dr David Wratt, leader of Niwa's national climate centre, has been involved virtually from the start and overviews the IPCC process.

Dr Wratt was one of two co-ordinating lead authors for the Australia-New Zealand chapter in the 2001 assessment and is currently the only New Zealander on the 40-member IPCC bureau.

He said Gore had proven a skilled communicator who could "talk the science" in a way people could understand.

"Each report is the size of a telephone directory and even the summaries are quite technical and not that accessible to the public."

Dr Wratt said while Gore had perhaps over-simplified some material and in cases made errors in the detail, the overall scientific picture he presented was correct.

"Scientists have no doubt that carbon dioxide levels have increased and human-related activity is influencing the climate with substantial impacts."

Dr Wratt thought the sharing of the Nobel Peace Prize was "wonderful" and a well-earned reward for hours of unpaid work many scientists had dedicated to the task.

While some of the work was done as part of his salaried job at Niwa, there was still a great deal done in Dr Wratt's private time.

"I have spent a lot of weekends reviewing, but it is a satisfying commitment."

The IPCC assessed scientific literature, examined the arguments and laid out any disputes.

Worst battering of spring expected tomorrow

NZ Herald , Monday October 22, 2007

New Zealanders are in for a windy day tomorrow.

Parts of the country could be in for the worst battering of spring so far, with severe and damaging gales forecast for tomorrow.

The MetService has issued a severe weather warning as a low deepens in the Tasman Sea and moves on to the South Island. The weather system will bring a short and intense period of rain along the west coast from northwest Nelson to Fiordland tomorrow morning. Trampers are warned to watch for rapidly rising rivers.

Meanwhile, severe northwest gales are expected to rapidly develop from Hawke’s Bay to inland Canterbury in the early hours, reaching up to 130kmh.

Later in the morning severe west to southwest gales are expected to batter many parts of Southland and eastern Otago, gusting up to 140kmh.

"It may well be that these gales will be the strongest of a series of gales which have affected New Zealand over recent weeks," forecasters said.

The winds are likely to cause damage to trees and power lines, and make driving hazardous.

The worst affected area will be from Invercargill to Dunedin, where the wind may be strong enough to damage buildings, they warned.

Cost counted after fierce winds

TVNZ Oct 23, 2007

Communities up and down the country are counting the cost after fierce winds hammered many parts of New Zealand.

Tuesday was a horror day for emergency workers, stretched to the limit dealing with lifted roofs, fallen fences and flying trees.

Southland was the first and worst hit.

A 30-metre pine tree was felled by severe gales near Invercargill, its branches smashing deep into a farm workers house.  Farm worker Christine Gheorghe was hit on the head by a branch and had to receive hospital treatment. The tree also invaded the kitchen and flattened a shed.

Southland's wind blew in overnight Monday, gusting to 140 kilometres an hour before easing around lunchtime on Tuesday. Firefighters received more than 200 emergency services calls, mainly to deal with flapping sheets of iron. One firefighter was hurt.

The clean-up bill in Southland alone will run to tens of thousands of dollars.

Winds cause chaos on roads

24.10.2007  BY NATHAN CROMBIE , Wairarapa Times-Age

One of the first casualties of the high winds which ripped through Tararua district yesterday.Photo: Dannevirke News

Sme of the strongest gales in the country hit Wairarapa yesterday but high winds caused greater havoc on roads further north and forecasters are warning of more to come.

Delivery of the Wairarapa Times-Age was delayed by about three hours yesterday afternoon after the transport truck was caught in dangerously high winds about 10km north of Dannevirke.  Trucks were barred from travelling State Highway 2 from the Takapau Plains to Mount Bruce for several hours yesterday after several heavy vehicles were blown over along with an ambulance that was on the way to attend a women trapped in a car near Dannevirke by a wind-felled tree.

Met Service forecaster Matthew Ford said wind gusts of up to 141km/h were recorded at Castlepoint yesterday and up to 148km/h on the Rimutaka Hill. Severe wind warnings were in place until yesterday afternoon after high winds began soon after midnight on Monday.

Frosts nip region's asparagus crop

By JILL GALLOWAY - Manawatu Standard | Tuesday, 30 October 2007

JONATHAN CAMERON/Manawatu Standard

SEASONAL TRAVELLER: Packing asparagus at Tendertips packhouse near Levin.

Another frost has hit the region's asparagus industry, just as it gets into the peak of production.   Three frosts have frozen asparagus spears in the ground, making much of the crop unsaleable, Geoff Lewis from the Tendertips Asparagus packhouse near Levin says.

After a great early start to the season, brought on by warm weather, the cold set in.

There have been plenty of grey, windy days, but it is the clear night skies and southerlies that have brought the frosty trouble.

"One was a major frost that we think may even have got under the ground. It ruined seven days of asparagus harvest - the worst one we've ever experienced."

Sunday night brought another, lighter frost.

The Tendertips packhouse is at capacity at the moment, with the harvested spears being washed, graded and put into bunches for the local market and export.  A spear takes around five days from the time the bud appears until it is big enough to harvest.