A WET DAY OR TWO FOR CENTRAL FOLK

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A WET DAY OR TWO FOR CENTRAL FOLK

9/10/2007 11:00am

> From the WeatherWatch archives

This Spring continues to gives us variety and today is no exception as a system moving in from the Tasman is expected to provide the centre of the nation with rain and some heavy falls are in the mix as well.
After Nor’ west rain recently topped up many Mainland rivers, this time the winds are switching direction and not only feeding the foothills again but the plains and other low lying areas look like they’re in for a soaking.

The Government watchdog has issued warnings for parts of Nelson, Marlborough and Canterbury today and in some cases tomorrow too. 50mm is on the cards for Nelson city and Christchurch may receive totals
between 60 and 100 millimetres through till tomorrow which is more than the October average.

An interesting note is that when the winds come in from this NE direction, there is a tendency for the rain to settle in and potentially accumulate very quickly. Already this morning the rain has moved into the middle of the country and gradually heading further south.

The rest of the country at the moment is generally dry but for those in the north, this should be short lived, as rain moves in later today but for the south, a dry Wednesday is in store and probably the best weather in the country is Southland, which is the reverse of last weekend!

Temperatures will be nippy along the east of the South Island with the rain moving in but elsewhere the thermometer is looking like where it should be for the second week of October

Story by South Island weather analyst Richard Green

International Weather Centre

For those of you who have friends or family living in the USA or Canada – you might find this interesting. In Canada, October usually brings the first major frosts of the year (just a 1 week after Summer ends there!). Last year a big snow storm broke records as it blanketed parts of Ontario, south of Toronto and western parts of New York state, including the city of Buffalo. But this year areas east of the Rockies in both countries are suffering from a massive heat wave. Temperatures near Toronto are reaching 28 and 29 degrees during the day and still only dipping to around 18 at night – and this has been consistantly happening for well over 3 months! South of the border and into America and the south eastern states such as the Carolinas and Georgia and northern Florida have been reaching well into the 30s – even touching on the 40’s for months now – and that doesn’t even take the humidity into consideration!

The reason for the hot weather? Well, some say it’s La Nina – and thats bumped the Arctic jet stream further north. Jet Streams are like motorways of air – and they mark and area where temperatures change. In North America the jet stream plays as bigger part in their daily weather maps as cold fronts do on ours. The jet stream, thanks to La Nina’s weather patterns, has been bumped well north – so that cold arctic air is staying put – for now. But as the weeks tick by, that cold air pressure will grow – and snow storms will gradually move south to the US/Canada border by November probably – and by February it will be brutal. But for now they’re all enjoying an Indian summer.

Story by TRN’s head weather analyst Philip Duncan.

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