What's the Weather like at your place?

[Kiwithrottlejockey]

A real mixed bag, weatherwise, at the bottom of the North Island today. A mixture of blue skies and clouds in Wairarapa accompanied by warm temperatures.

The Waingawa River, looking upstream and downstream from the railway bridge this morning....







Chasing the same rainbow south from Waingawa, with the photos taken at Matarawa and at the railway bridge across the Waiohine River looking upstream....







Wellington (what more can I say) with Matiu/Somes Island hiding in the sea fog, and Rocky Point along the western shoreline of Wellington Harbour.

The temperature was considerably cooler on the Wellington side of the ranges than the Wairarapa side.







The weather was no better in the Hutt Valley, or in the Mangaroa Valley (seen here)....





Back to Wairarapa and the immediate rise in temperature on emerging from the 8.8km-long Rimutaka Tunnel was immediately noticeable.

Clouds over the Aorangi Range on the far side of Lake Wairarapa, but at least the sun is shining.





Back in Masterton and the digital thermometer on the wall inside my place is currently showing 30°C as I post this.

[Kiwithrottlejockey]

Ten days of sunshine forecast for Wellington

Ladies safe to bring out their hats for the Cup

The Dominion Post | 11:31AM - Friday, 25 January 2013



THE FORECAST for Saturday's Wellington Cup is spectacular — and the capital will be enjoying sun for more than week with not a gale in sight.

Wellington stands out, but the whole country is in for a golden run thanks to a "big, fat area of high pressure" building over New Zealand, according to MetService meteorologist Daniel Corbett.

"This one will build and it will sit in place," he said today.

"It's like a big mountain of air sitting over New Zealand. That's why the forecast is just looking spectacular."


TEN SUNS: The 10-day forecast for Wellington is looking good for Wellington Cup day.

]It was difficult to pick the best spot to be in the country this weekend, he said.

"The high is pretty good and it covers most of the country. Everywhere is going to be good," Corbett said.

"If people want to be up in the mountains tramping that will be nice, if they want to be out in the boat that should be nice too.

"It's just perfect weather for the outdoors — just get out the barbecue or pop the tent on the beach and make the most of it."

The warm weather in Wellington was forecast to stick around until the middle of next week.

"We haven't had a big fat high this summer in Wellington. We've had some northerlies..."

"You know what it's like in Wellington, if you see one day with sunny conditions you grab it and make the most of it."


HOLD ON TO YOUR HAT (left): The fine weather will be a relief to this year's crop of Fashion in the Field contestants.
Pictured is last year's supreme winner, Makere Bradnam. | GLORIOUS SUNSHINE (right): Wellington, there ain't
no better place on a sunny day.

Inland areas in the North Island should expect temperatures well into the mid-20s, while in Auckland the forecast was for 26 degrees Celsius today and temperatures in the mid-20s for the weekend.

In the deep south, Invercargill was forecast to hit 27°C tomorrow with Alexandra due for 30°C.

Christchurch — where hot and windy conditions have led to damaging scrub fires in recent weeks — could also expect warm weather.

"They have concerns about those warm dry northwesters down there but it looks like they won't have any of those for awhile," Corbett said.

"It's coolish there today and then they'll warm up by the weekend with some temperatures in the mid-20s."

Gisborne, the Coromandel and the Bay of Islands could expect some passing showers over the next day or so but Corbett said after that weather was looking good.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/8222885/Ten-days-of-sunshine-forecast-for-Wellington

[ssweetpea]

Huh?

We have a total fire ban in place in Auckland.

All that rain you lower North Islanders have had we've hardly seen a drop up here.

[Kiwithrottlejockey]

Tracksiders throw their own shade

Cup goers charmed with good weather

By OLIVIA WANNAN - The Dominion Post | 11:35AM - Saturday, 26 January 2013


BEVY OF BONNETS: Wellington Cup hat shoppers Sarah Buttar, left, Lauren McAndrew
and Ebony Davison are all set to stun at the races. — MAARTEN HOLL/Fairfax NZ.

HATS AND FASCINATORS were snapped up around the city yesterday as people prepared for today's forecast cracker of a race day.

Bijoux Moda owner Claire Ferguson said the usual pre- Wellington Cup Day buying spree would even continue well into today.

"They come with their dresses on, man in tow, then jump in the car and head to the races," she said.

First-time racegoers Sarah Buttar, Lauren McAndrew and Ebony Davison were out searching for the perfect headgear — and of course, sunscreen — after checking the weather forecast. "It's going to be beautiful," Ms Davison said.

Fine, sunny weather and temperatures of 23 degrees Celsius were forecast today. Even better, the sun was predicted to continue for the next 10 days.

It's particularly great news for Wellington sevens fans, with sunshine expected for next weekend's event, and the long-range forecast showing highs of 24°C for both Friday and Saturday.

MetService meteorologist Dan Corbett said a "big, fat" high had moved over the country and would park itself over New Zealand for the next week, bringing mainly fine weather to most areas.

"Instead of weather systems moving along ... this high is going to drop its anchor and sit in place."

As the high lingered over the country, the mercury would rise, hitting 25°C in the capital on Tuesday and the late 20s in the Wairarapa and further north.

Wellington would also experience light, warm winds, Mr Corbett said.

"This is one of the nicest settled spells we would have seen for this summer."

Niwa climate scientist Andrew Tait said while it was common to see high pressure systems that "parked" for several days, it was rare for one to stay for a week, as this one was predicted to.

"It's something that probably only happens once or twice a year, if that."

With La Nina raining out most of the North Island last summer, while drought conditions hit the south of the country, this year's summer had been a reversal.

Most of the South Island had seen above average rainfall, while the upper North Island had basked in exceptionally dry, warm weather, Mr Tait said.

Holidaymakers might be revelling in the sunny conditions, but the low soil moisture content not only brought a higher fire risk, but was causing problems for many North Island farmers, he said.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/8226612/Tracksiders-throw-their-own-shade

[Kiwithrottlejockey]

Now the down-side.

All that warm, sunny weather means the punters at Trentham will drink to excess even more than usual and that combined with the hot sun will result in them being even drunker and more aggro & obnoxious by the end of the day when they board trains to head home. Which means big trouble for rail staff working on the trains.

I dread Wellington Cup Day....especially when I am unfortunate enough to be rostered to work a late shift, as I am today. It means I will be running an 11-car train out of Masterton on the usual late-afternoon scheduled service to Wellington, with four of those cars being for the usual weekend passengers, and the rest being loaded up with Wellington-bound drunks at Trentham. And there will be the usual argument with security at Trentham, with them wanting to cram as many people onto the train as they can, and us digging our heels in and insisting we aren't going to depart from Trentham with any standing passengers. We always win that argument, because we literally refuse to get moving until everyone has a seat and if security have crammed many more people onto the train than there are seats, then we insist that they remove sufficent people to ensure that nobody is standing. Unlike the electric multiple unit trains in the Wellington area, the Wairarapa carriages aren't set up for standing passengers, and when you have drunks packed into them, inevitably somebody falls into somebody else, then the aggro and biffo blows up out of control. Hence the reason why we refuse to accept drunk standing passengers out of Trentham. Then, on the return journey from Wellington to Masterton, the train will once again get diverted to the racecourse platform at Trentham in order to pick up the hoardes of Wairarapa drunks who have been at the races, and from past experience I know a majority of those (and by far the worst behaved) will be teenage girls who will proceed to cause havoc all the way home. And the odds are fairly high that at least one of them will hit the emergency stop button somewhere in the 8.8km-long Rimutaka Tunnel on the way home, just for the hell of it, bringing the train to a grinding halt.

Now you see why I dread Wellington Cup Day, especially when I am on late shift.

[Kiwithrottlejockey]

[ssweetpea]

We get some rain on Monday
We get some rain on Monday



Things are really dry up here.

[Kiwithrottlejockey]

YeeHa....it's ALL ON at my place....

Pissing down with rain, lightning, thunder....the works!

A real good STORM!!



               

[ssweetpea]

We have had light rain followed by heavier rain.

The right sort of thing to soak into the soil rather than run off.


I just wish we had it before one of my hydrangeas grew roots into the sewer in the search for water. I could have done without the plumber's bill for unblocking it on the weekend.

I wondered why that one was the only one not wilting between waterings.

[Kiwithrottlejockey]

The rain has eased of to just light precipitation (although I bet it is pissing down in the Tararua Ranges).

However the lightning & thunder display is ongoing....real spectacular stuff.

It's still bloody warm though!

[Kiwithrottlejockey]

No clouds.


No wind.
Just blue skies, sunshine and HOT! 

[Alicat]

No clouds.


No wind.
Just blue skies, sunshine and HOT! 

Ditto for the Hutt

[nitpicker1]

No clouds.


No wind.
Just blue skies, sunshine and HOT! 

Ditto for the Hutt

ditto in Dunners

[Kiwithrottlejockey]

Weather at the bottom of the North Island this morning. Notice how dry the Waingawa River is in the first and last photos....

[nitpicker1]

12th day without rain, and only 34mm total  = 2 days worth so far this month.   

[Magoo]

The ground is bone dry here too.   Transplanted some agapanthas the other day and have to keep the soil hosed as it is turning to dust on the top.   Haven't seen it this dry in a long time.  It is 22 here at the moment.

[ssweetpea]

The last rain we had was just before Waitangi Day.

The lawn was last mown in January. The only really green spots are where the hose runs when I walk from one fruit tree or shrub to the next and I have lost several plants because I am being a bit sparing with the water.

[Kiwithrottlejockey]

I've just about forgotten what rain looks and feels like.

My front lawn is full of big cracks in the ground.

Much of the farmland around Wairarapa is the same, except the dairy farms where they are getting water from somewhere and irrigating their paddocks.

The rivers have got bugger-all water in them and in places the bed of the Tauherenikau River is bone dry, although I'm told the water is flowing through the shingle beneath the riverbed.

[Magoo]

You know it is bad when the dogs don't like walking on the grass.  It is all brown, hard and spiky.   They need wee sandals.        No wasting water here to make everything look green. 

[donquixotenz]

dry, brown, cracked, hot. and fly plagued. Water the pots and every bird cat dog and hedge hog congregate on the patio and drink the saucers dry.. I'm come times thempted to put vodka in the thaucers....

[ssweetpea]

I am amazed at how often I have to fill up the bird bath aka Sally cat's drinking bowl.

[ssweetpea]

We had a shower this morning


later: a 45minute shower does not a drought break. At least the rain was heavy enough for me to put the wipers on normal speed for 10 minutes or so.

[nitpicker1]

we are getting the brief light drizzle that shows on windows but can't even leave a spot on the wooden deck or register in the rain guage...

Things are grim here.
http://www.metservice.com/maps-radar/rain-radar/all-new-zealand

[nitpicker1]

Our area has had 2mm 6mm 1mm  rain on 3 of the last 31 days, last 24 hours a trace only, not enough to register

see attached 

[ssweetpea]

It was raining at 4am this morning, not heavily but nice and steady and heavy enough to be heard on the roof.

At 8am it was still raining.



Lovely.