November 1981: November was dull and mild in most parts of New Zealand. North-easterly winds were more frequent than normal in the north while westerlies predominated in the south of the country this month. There was higher frequency than normal of winds that were either stronger or lighter than usual over the whole country. Farmers in most areas reported stock to be in good health as a result of the good pasture growth made this month. Some early hay was made in the drier areas of both Islands but in areas of high rainfall some post-shearing sheep losses and crop losses were reported. Pressures were high in the south and south-east this month. Stations throughout New Zealand reported pressures above 1030mb on the 23rd and 24th due to an intense anticyclone lying to the southeast of the country.
Rainfall: Rainfall was above normal over the North Island except in south-western and central areas where many stattons had less than half their normal rainfall, and locally around Hamilton and Auckland where rainfall was slightly below normal. Northland had more than
200 percent of normal rainfall and areas around Rotorua, Bay of Plenty and Coromandel had over 300 percent of normal rainfall. In the South Island, northern Westland, Buller Nelson, Marlborough and the Kaikoura Coast had normal or above normal rainfall while the remainder had less rainfall than usual for November. Areas around Dunedin, Timaru, Oamaru and Milford Sound had only about 30 percent of normal rainfall. Heavy rain· in north-west Nelson between the 14th and 16th caused local flooding. A slip on the Cobb Valley damaged water pipelines to the Cobb Power Station which is now expected to be out of action for several months. The Takaka hill road was closed for some time by slips and slips also closed roads around Motueka.
Some totals (mm): Cobb Dam 463, Waihi 320, Tairua Forest 300, Kerikeri 273, Motueka 257, Ruatoria 242, Hamilton 88, Kaikoura 69, Dunedin 24, Ashburton 23, Ranfurly 5.
Temperature: Temperatures were above normal for November over most of New Zealand. Areas having lower mean temperatures than usual were Northland, Whakatane to East Cape, Napier, Blenheim and Kaikoura, which were up to 1.0°C below normal. Southern and south-western areas of the South Island were between 1.0°C and 2.0°C above normal while the rest of the country had mean temperatures up to 1.0°C above normal. Eastern districts had warm temperatures during a period of northwesterlies on the 4th and 5th with Christchurch reaching 29.5°C on the 5th. Cooler weather followed and between the 8th and 10th maximum temperatures were 5.0°C to 10.0°C below the monthly average in many places. Some record November high temperatures were observed in Westland at the end of the month. Record maximum temperatures on the 29th (with the year recording began) were: Greymouth 26.5°C (1947) Hokitika 26°C (1963) Fox Glacier 24.5°C (1973). New Plymouth, on the west coast of the North Island, reached 25.5°C on the same day, a record for November since the station opened in 1944.
30.7°C maximum at Bendigo on the 30th,
-4.2°C minimum at Moa Creek on the 19th.
Sunshine: Sunshine figures were low over the whole country with many areas having a shortfall from the November average of more than 40 hours. Northern areas had particularly low totals, Kaitaia had 129 hours sunshine which was 75 hours less than usual and its second lowest November total since 1951. Other centres with large deficits were: Rotorua Airport (66 hrs) Auckland City (56 hrs) Nelson (45 hrs) Dunedin (44 hrs) and Tauranga (43 hrs). Areas around Christchurch and Ohakea had only slightly less sun than normal.
[Some totals: Kaitaia 129, Waitangi 137, Whangarei 130, Leigh 143, Auckland 158, Tauranga 186, Whakatane 189, Rotorua 175, Taupo 191, Auckland Aero 152, Hamilton 159, New Plymouth 181, Masterton n/a, Dannevirke 155, Gisborne 199, Napier 196, Wairoa 202, Paraparaumu 179, Ohakea 209, Palmerston North n/a, Levin 174, Wellington 180, Wanganui 203, Westport 132, n/a, Hokitika 152, Greymouth 116, Nelson 186, Blenheim 204, Grassmere 190, Kaikoura 198, Mt Cook 153, Methven 152, Christchurch 202, Ashburton 166, Timaru 155, Oamaru Aero 154, Omarama 169, Palmerston 132, Dunedin Aero 129, Dunedin 127, Te Anau 170, Queenstown 176, Cromwell 181, Alexandra 177, Gore 154, Invercargill 154]
Share Topic
April 19, 2012, 07:27:35 PM