Four Seasons in One Day!

No. Not the Crowded House song but I am referring to the weather. What is going on with it? Is mankind really affecting the seasonal cycle and balance or is that now we are older we seem to take greater notice of it. From childhood, I remember summers being hot (or maybe that was because we were always sweaty and red faced from playing footie, with the obligatory jumpers or bags as goalposts) and winters were cold. However, it now seems that we can get all four seasons in one day.

Satellite image of the snow covered South Island

Last Sunday (11th June), it was riduculously warm, for this time of year. Nice as it was, it was rather wasted on us due to the fact that we did not surface from our pit until 1.30 in the afternoon. Well, we did not go to bed until 4am, as we had spent the evening/night cheering on England in a pub beforehand. Anyway, by the time we surfaced the mercury had reached 18 degrees C so the rest of the afternoon was spent wandering around shops wearing just a tee-shirt (obviously we had jeans on too!). We knew the warmth was not going to last, as rain was forecast for the next day and snow for the higher areas. What nobody expected was the 'weather bomb'. Well that is what the papers called it, before informing us that its meteorological name is a bomb low, and that it was not quite one anyway! I can't say I have heard of either, but then I'm just a 'warm beer' drinking pom!

Left: Christchurch City Centre

So what is a bomb low? Technically, a bomb low is one that deepens by 24 hectopascals (hPa) or more in 24 hours. They are caused by huge temperature contrasts. In this case it was the mixing of the warm, moist north-westerly winds of the day and the cold southerly winds of Sunday night, plus a few other meteorological happenings thrown in for good measure! Well that's cleared that up then. What it all meant though was that the South Island received a huge dumping of snow. In some parts of the Canterbury region it was the heaviest fall for 30 years. Of course, this caused all manner of problems and mayhem (power lines down, roads closed, roofs collapsing under the weight of the snow, etc.) And yes, all the usual people were blamed: the MetService, power companies, politicians, etc.

A Quick Snap of Our House Before Going To Work

Whilst this was all going on in the South Island the North Island was taking a different sort of battering. In Auckland, high winds snapped a substation power line causing it to short out. That meant Auckland's C.B.D. and 700 000 people were left without power for hours. People were stuck in lifts, the roads were in 'Italian Job' style chaos and alarms were ringing everywhere.

How did it affect us? I hear you ask. To be honest, it didn't, apart from create that child like excitement that only snow can bring. As we only live a ten minute walk from work, we did not have any real excuses for not turning up! Also living in a city at sea level, the snow was not as severe as elsewhere and had turned to slush on the roads by late afternoon. But just imagine all that powder on the mountain slopes waiting for my snowboard!

http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/new-zealand-towns-cut-off-by-snow-storm/2006/06/14/1149964581987.html