Media: NZ Storms August 2008

[Grant]

The third vicious storm in a week is expected to lash the country today and tomorrow, wreaking more havoc after one of the wettest Julys on record.
The MetService has issued severe weather warnings as a deep low threatens to bring squally, thundery showers and severe wind gusts.
It means more flooding, slips and treacherous conditions on the roads.
Thousands of weekend sporting plans are also likely to be disrupted again.
Rugby games for 7000 juniors and 6000 secondary school players have been cancelled as councils try to dry soaked fields.
"This rain will be falling on already sodden ground, so further flooding and slips are likely, and rivers and streams will swell quickly," said MetService spokesman Bob McDavitt.
The bad weather will hamper the big clean-up after the last storm.

Storm warning - yes, a new one - 02 Aug 2008 - NZ Herald: New Zealand National news

[Grant]

More property owners were forced to evacuate their homes yesterday as thunderstorms, heavy rain and gale-force winds again lashed the country.

At least six homes in Auckland's North Shore were at risk from slips, two of them under immediate threat, with evacuated residents unsure when they would be able to return.

Weather experts warned the latest deluge could cause further headaches for properties suffering from landslides around the country.

"There are some very big showers forming in the Tasman Sea," said Radio Network head weather analyst Philip Duncan.

"The risk for thunderstorms and isolated heavy downpours causing surface and flash flooding remains high for all regions from Taranaki northwards. Waterways already swollen from recent rains - some receiving twice their July rainfall in just five days - won't be able to tolerate much more rain."

MetService weather ambassador Bob McDavitt expected the rain to be heaviest between Kapiti Coast and Nelson. Thunderstorms were expected to be worst between Taranaki and Marlborough.

Owners leave homes as wild weather hits - 03 Aug 2008 - NZ Herald: New Zealand National news

[Grant]

Rising flood levels in the Waikato River forced the closure of Huntly College today and the school will be shut again tomorrow.

Stopbanks were put in place after the river burst its banks and badly flooded the college 10 years ago, but the school and its grounds are lower than the river level.

Today the high water table was forcing seepage through the ground, with mini lakes forming on the riverside of the school.

Principal Tim Foy alerted pupils and parents to the closure by email yesterday.

He said he was worried about the dangers of sewage and mud and concerned about predicted river peaks.

Environment Waikato staff remain on high alert as river levels continue to increase in the lower reaches of the Waikato and Waipa and rain continues to fall in the catchment areas.

Some low-lying dairy farms already have water-cover paddocks

Flood threat closes Huntly College - 04 Aug 2008 - NZ Herald: New Zealand National news

[TokWW]

Reading an article in Stuff.co.nz shows an explanation by Bob McDavitt for these delayed and blocked Lows... and a bit about the forthcoming depression to hit us this coming weekend...

It's winter, just weather it

By PAUL GORMAN - The Press | Tuesday, 05 August 2008

Fed up with yet another wet, grey morning? Starting to understand why low-pressure systems are called depressions?

The bad news is it could be another two or three weeks before the atmospheric conditions directing depressions across New Zealand finally clear.

A breather is on the way over the next couple of days, [YES!... Ed] but the next in a procession of stormy lows is scheduled to cross the country on Friday and Saturday, with another one about this time next week.

Neither system looks as fierce as last week's storms, but early forecasts suggest snow may fall to low levels in parts of the South Island on Friday.
The continuing unsettled weather is the result of an atmospheric phenomenon known as blocking.

A weakness in upper-level winds in the mid-Pacific Ocean is affecting the normal movement of weather systems, pushing them out of place and slowing them down.

The result over New Zealand is a jam of slow-moving depressions unable to head east away from the country at their normal speed.
MetService spokesman Bob McDavitt said the blocking pattern meant a winter storm that would usually take a day to move through was taking three or four days.

"We haven't really had an example of blocking patterns for a year or so because of the La Nina. El Nino also tends to encourage mobility and lots and lots of westerly winds, but at the moment we have neither," he said.
"With blocking, it continues until it wants to break down and there's no real way of forecasting how long it may last. It will go when it wants to go."

Forecasters were watching the system moving on to the country on Friday as it had potential to bring low snow to eastern and southern districts, he said.

It's winter, just weather it - New Zealand news on Stuff.co.nz

[Grant]

A blast of freezing Antarctic air is on the way, turning rain into snow in the South Island tonight, and turning its attention to the North Island from tomorrow.

Heavy rain, snow, gales, thunder and hail - not exactly a forecast many New Zealanders want to hear as a large area of low pressure shifts onto the country.

The Waikato River is also precariously close to flooding over its banks and on to surrounding roads.

Western and central areas will be most exposed to the severe weather with the main front is now moving up the West Coast.

TRN's head weather analyst Philip Duncan says it may be a restless night for some. "Heavy showers, some with hail, coupled with thunder and winds up to gale force may wake a few of us up overnight tonight".

Mr Duncan says the weather sounds bad but probably won't cause too much damage. "This storm covers a huge area which is a good thing - it's spreading the energy over a much greater space which decreases it's intensity".

Another storm on the way; fears over Waikato River levels - 14 Aug 2008 - NZ Herald: New Zealand National news