It’s 20 degrees in Invercargill this afternoon – while 11 years ago this week it was snowing in Auckland!

A couple of tweets worthy of mentioning today from our @WeatherWatchNZ Twitter account – the social media of choice for breaking news and sharing current set ups.

Two tweets today we thought WeatherWatch and RuralWeather readers would be interested in…and it’s all to do with our location on earth. It’s what we often refer to as “The Goldilocks zone” – with NZ located roughly halfway between the Equator and Antarctica we have a mainly temperate climate where it’s not too hot and not too cold.

But, just north of NZ it’s warm and just south of NZ it’s very cold – so airflows from a distance make a huge difference to our weather. A large high west of NZ can drag up a polar blast…the same high east of NZ can pull down tropical air. Placement of big high pressure zones is everything!

Look at the incredible comparison of this week (starting August 15th). It compares New Zealand’s weather with an historic southerly 11 years ago that saw major snowfall to sea level in Dunedin, Christchurch and Wellington, then snow flurries in some Auckland suburbs and parts of The Far North ranges….with the tropical northerly flow we have this week boosting temperatures well above normal.

NZ lies between the Equator & Antarctica. Our weather is very changeable compared to most nations:

Example:#Southerly: 11YRS AGO this week it snowed to sea level in Wellington & snow fell in Auckland!https://t.co/KAaFYNZkWW#Northerly: CURRENT Temps: https://t.co/sgHFGtsqYR pic.twitter.com/lQvCWHL5Je

— WeatherWatch.co.nz (@WeatherWatchNZ) August 16, 2022

Late-Winter in #Southland doesn't look so bad!

Almost time to put away those winter shorts and bring out the spring shorts…🩳🩲 https://t.co/D35ySCBYsG pic.twitter.com/6HX8w4fcee

— WeatherWatch.co.nz (@WeatherWatchNZ) August 16, 2022

You can read the breaking news story we issued on August 15, 2011, as snow started to fall as far north as Auckland City: www.weatherwatch.co.nz/content/snow-falls-in-wellington-auckland-christchurch-dunedin

• By head forecaster Philip Duncan.