> From the WeatherWatch archives
More than 4 months have gone by since the longest day and with just 2 months remaining until the shortest day, some people are wondering when their Indian summer will end or perhaps hoping it doesn’t.
Yesterday temperatures remained in the 20s with Lyttleton topping out on 27 degrees and Christchurch and Ashburton with 26 degrees. Bear in mind that the average daytime temperature in these parts, even in January, is 23 degrees. Other provinces and centres have also kept up the summer like weather.
The dry conditions gripping parts of the country is continuing but there is some hope that changeable conditions over the weekend could lead to a little relief but nobody is holding their breath during this lengthy dry spell.
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Before you add a new comment, take note this story was published on 22 Apr 2010.
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Paul on 22/04/2010 10:16pm
The April weather forecast (printed in the Walking magazine) according to Ken Ring says ” the coldest April conditions in half a century ” lol
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RW on 23/04/2010 4:26am
Refer also to a Ring comment in this column making dire predictions for February temperatures! Someone saved it and a comparison with the outcome was…. say no more!
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RW on 22/04/2010 9:11pm
Strictly speaking it’s not an “Indian summer”, which refers to a period of warm dry autumn conditions after a colder phase has occurred.
Here’s a description in the original North Amercian context:
“The generally accepted use of the term is when the weather is sunny and clear, and above 21 ¬∞C (70 ¬∞F), and all of the leaves of the trees have turned but before the first snow has fallen; a period normally associated with mid-October to late-November in the northern states of the U.S. Traditionally, Indian summer can only be a true Indian summer after the first frost, generally a killing frost, of the season”.
That said, dryness problems aside, it’s most enjoyable. There is a good chance that locally (Wellington) the combined March-April sunshine will be the highest in over a century of records, even though the last few days of April look pretty unsettled at present.
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