25 JANUARY

THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE

THE NEW ZEALAND WEATHER IN NOVEMBER 1983

General—November was a rather dry month, with generally mild and sunny weather in the west, but cloudy and cool conditions in many eastern areas.

Winds from the east were more frequent than usual and there was a marked lack of strong winds. South-easterlies were especially common over the North Island; Auckland recorded its highest frequency of south-easterlies in November for almost 30 years. Both south-easterlies and north-easterlies were more frequent than usual over the South Island.

Onion crops at Pukekohe were damaged by hail, and power supplies at Warkworth were disrupted by lightning, during thunderstorms which affected Auckland and Northland on the 22nd.

Farmers in most areas reported good growth during the first half of November but rather dry conditions towards the end of the month.

Rainfall—In spite of the high frequency of easterlies, eastern areas received less rain than usual. Rainfalls at Whangarei, Auckland, Napier, and Alexandra (amounting to 24 percent, 29 percent, 33 percent, and 33 percent respectively of their normal November rainfalls), were among the lowest ever recorded at these places. Most other parts of the country also received below average rainfalls. However, Wellington and parts of Westland and the Alps, recorded more rain than usual, although the rainfall distribution at these places was irregular; Wellington had received 80 percent of its rainfall for the month by the 10th and more than half of Hokitika’s rain was the result of one heavy fall—on the 17th.

Temperatures—As a result of the frequent south-easterlies temperatures in eastern North Island areas and some inland parts of Canterbury and Otago were about 0.5°C below average. On the other hand the remainder of the country, and especially Westland and the central North Island, experienced temperatures at least 0.5°C above average.

Temperatures were well above average in most parts of the country between the 4th and 6th, and on the 19th. However there were prolonged periods with below average temperatures—from the 12th to the 16th and from the 20th to the 30th.

Sunshine—Eastern areas, from East Cape to Kaikoura, experienced a cloudy November due to the frequent east to south-east winds. Gisborne recorded only 164 hours of bright sunshine, making this its cloudiest November since 1952. Western areas however, received average or above average sunshine totals and Westland experienced a very sunny month. Hokitika recorded 217 hours of bright sunshine—almost 130 percent of its usual November total.

THE WEATHER SEQUENCE—NOVEMBER 1983

1–7 November

A cool south-westerly flow gave a few showers to eastern areas on the morning of the 1st, but the showers cleared as a ridge spread over the country during the afternoon. A north-westerly airstream spread over the South Island on the 2nd, bringing rain to western areas and a few showers east of the alps. The rain became more widespread on the 3rd, affecting western areas from Taranaki southwards, while an anticyclone gave mainly fine weather to the remainder of the country. A deep low moved south-east from near Tasmania, into the area south of the South Island during the 4th, causing the warm north-westerlies to become much stronger, while a broad front gave heavy rain to western South Island areas and to Wellington. The deep low moved away to the south-east on the 5th and the flow over New Zealand turned south-westerly, bringing further showers to western areas of both islands. A ridge spread over the country and gave fine mild weather in most places during the 6th, although a shallow low in the north Tasman Sea brought some showers to Northland. The low deepened and moved towards Northland on the 7th, bringing widespread rain to the North Island, while the weather remained fine and mild over the South Island.

8–14 November

The low moved south-east across the North Island on the 8th, giving further widespread rain there and a few showers in eastern parts of the South Island. A strong disturbed north-westerly flow spread on to the South Island during the 9th, bringing rain to Westland and the Alps, but generally fine weather elsewhere. A cold front moved east across the country on the 11th, followed by south-westerlies and clearing weather, although a few showers persisted along the West Coast. During the 12th a ridge spread across New Zealand from an anticyclone in the mid Tasman Sea and although a few isolated showers persisted, the weather became fine and cool over most of the country. A cold front moved across the south Tasman Sea and on to the south of the South Island on the 13th, bringing rain to the south and west of the island. The front and its associated rain moved over most of the North Island on the 14th and a cool southerly airstream spread over New Zealand.

15–21 November

The southerlies died out and strong north-westerlies spread over the South Island as an anticyclone moved quickly east across the country during the 15th. On the 17th a cold front moved across most of the South Island, bringing heavy rain to western areas. The front moved across the North Island on the 18th with showers in western areas. Meanwhile a deep low, which had formed in the mid Tasman Sea, moved south-east across southern New Zealand bringing further rain to Westland and Fiordland. Eastern areas of both islands however, remained fine and very warm. Another cold front moved quickly east across New Zealand during the 19th, bringing rain to western South Island areas while the remainder of the country experienced fine weather. A ridge of high pressure spread across central New Zealand on the 20th and gave fine cool weather to most of the country. However a low developed near East Cape on the 21st and cool southerlies brought showers to eastern areas of both islands.

22–30 November

The low gradually deepened and moved slowly south-east across the Chatham Islands between and 22nd and 24th, maintaining a cool southerly flow over New Zealand with scattered showers in eastern areas but fine weather elsewhere. An anticyclone spread over the country as the low moved away and the weather remained generally fine and cool for the remainder of the month. However a shallow trough brought showers to northern and central North Island areas between the 26th and 29th.

J. S. HICKMAN, Director.

(N.Z. Met. S. Pub. 107)

BY AUTHORITY: P. D. HASSELBERG, GOVERNMENT PRINTER, WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND—1984

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