> From the WeatherWatch archives
If the wind is starting to drive you bananas then you may have to move to Northland…at least for this week.
Strong to gale force winds are going to continue to hammer many parts of the country, mostly south of Auckland, with conditions likely getting worse before they get any better reports WeatherWatch.co.nz.
During Monday the isobars will again squeeze up over New Zealand with winds strengthening, especially between northern Canterbury and Hawkes Bay.
MetService says there’s a moderate chance of severe gales moving in to central New Zealand.
The large storm, that has caused damage across the country, will take another three or four days to fully move away however with the spring equinox arriving on Thursday you can expect windy weather conditions to linger for the next four to six weeks.
Because Northland is the region furthest from the Southern Ocean storm the windiest weather should miss them this week – especially the Bay of Islands and Whangarei.
Homepage image: Zephyrometer Sam Hall
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Before you add a new comment, take note this story was published on 19 Sep 2010.
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sw on 19/09/2010 10:34pm
Move to New Caledonia or abouts,Northland is not necessarily the least windiest place,let alone pretty cloudy as well but often some of the eastern parts can be sheltered though as you mention can get the gusts.At least they dont get all the cloud and shower activity.
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Ken Ring on 19/09/2010 10:27pm
Phil
The equinox is on the 23rd. The wind will extend at least til then. The equinox causes a distortion and a twisting of the atmosphere, and equinox gales were recognised in the past to wreak havoc, but are seldom mentioned these days because of the global warming and climate change nonsense that wants the world to believe that Man affects the weather more than nature.
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Guest on 20/09/2010 7:05pm
There are plenty of equinox counterexamples. The onset of westerly gales in spring is highly variable and in some years has been almost completely absent, either around the equinox or other times. 1985 is one of the most outstanding cases, and this same period in September was marked by a static high east of NZ, which hung around for a fortnight.
The period 1950-1959 was marked by very settled Septembers overall and westerly rough stuff happened mostly in November, and to a lesser extent in October. The anomaly was so significant that September had the highest of the 12 monthly MSLPs by over 2.5hPa then.
Oversimplification is not a way to address any weather or climate issues.
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Ken Ring on 21/09/2010 11:38am
There are no counter examples to this one, this equinox is different. For a start it also comes within a day of lunar equinox. Secondly it comes in the closing stages of a situation whereby a faster moving moon due to the second most powerful perigee (moon second closest to earth for the year) was followed by the fourth furthest (apogeal distance away) for the year, a situation that has seen the moon covering a much greater monthly distance in the same timeframe, causing extra turbulence in land, sea and air. That is why the month’s extreme weather has been internationally linked. The Christchurch earthquake, the extreme wintry weather, the extreme NSW and Tasmanian weather, the deluge in Queensland, Hurricane Igor and the host of smaller cyclones in the Caribbean, are all part of the same cause. The equinox is a distortion of the atmosphere caused by the sun. Moon factors at the time counteract or magnify the effects. This time it is huge magnification, bringing more gales, higher swells faster currents, choppier seas, and tectonic disturbance.
It’ll all abate by the weekend.
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Gary on 22/09/2010 12:58am
“It’ll all abate by the weekend” is a direct contradiction to your previous statement on 19/9: “Wellington had its extreme weather a few days ago, is now enjoying respite, but another dose is due to return next weekend for most districts north of Oamaru, including Wellington”. Same weekend….contradictory forecast. Caught out again Ken.
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Glenda on 19/09/2010 9:21pm
You got that right, plenty of wind yesterday, blew over the toilet on our building site but only a bare trace of rain.
Lovely sunny morning with no sigh of showers here in Kerikeri, temp is 16 and winds light westerly.
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