A busy autumn of contrasts for New Zealanders by Susan Powell
As the UK looks forward to some real summery weather this coming weekend, countries in the Southern Hemisphere are moving into winter. Some residents in New Zealand will be hoping for quiet winter, after autumn brought some rather lively weather.
According to New Zealand’s National Institute of Water & Atmospheric Research, autumn saw some real regional contrasts across the country. Some areas in Northland (the northern part of North Island) had their sunniest autumn in 40 years, and here seasonal average temperatures were above average. It was also very dry, with less than half the seasonal average rainfall recorded. In contrast, autumn rainfall in the Bay of Plenty was more than 200% of normal. Tauranga Airport recorded 751mm, the highest autumn total since records began there in 1898.
Much of this came from extremely high rainfall events that occurred in May. Torrential rain on the 3rd and 4th caused widespread flooding in parts of Tauranga, then just two weeks later a phenomenal high-rainfall event in the Bay of Plenty on the 17th and 18th resulted in a state of emergency from Tauranga to Matata. Tauranga Airport recorded 347mm of rain in just 24 hours, and Awakaponga (a little inland from Matata) reported 94.5mm in just one hour. This didn’t match the previous one-hourly rainfall record of 109mm recorded at Leigh (north of Auckland) in 2001, but nevertheless the resultant flooding and landslides meant hundreds had to be evacuated. Damage costs are estimated at NZ$40-50 million (£16-20 million).
Just after 1pm on the 10th March some NZ$10m (£4m) worth of damage was caused in Greymouth (South Island) by a severe tornado. 30 people were left homeless but thankfully there were no fatalities. The tornado travelled south-eastwards through the town for 4km, leaving a 400-500m wide track of damage. With wind speeds estimated to be in the range 110-160mph the tornado was powerful enough to overturn vehicles and it even snapped a telegraph pole in half. Parts of the Bay of Plenty, as if May’s rain wasn’t enough, saw tornadoes on 25th March which damaged trees and properties. On average about 20 tornadoes and waterspouts are reported in New Zealand each year, but normally most of these are small.
Rain is expected to affect most of New Zealand this weekend, with heavy bursts forecast for the Bay of Plenty. In neighbouring Australia, things are looking promising for some more rain for the drought-afflicted country. An eastward-moving cold front will cross the southern half of the country from Western Australia on Friday, through Southern Australia to New South Wales and Victoria by Sunday, bringing more hope to farmers and much-needed rain to farmland and reservoirs.
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