Written by Steve Ready Meteorologist

On average, about nine tropical cyclones form in the South Pacific tropics between November and April each year. Three or four of these leave the tropics and nearly all of them undergo a marked transformation to a mid-latitude cyclone – a completely different weather system – before they reach New Zealand.

You are probably familiar with seeing lows and highs on our weather maps around New Zealand. See, for example, previous blog posts on a mid-July northern low, How Lows and Highs move and the satellite loop in Winds Aloft.

Written By Chris Webster, Meteorologist

In my previous blog post I wrote about how the winds high in the sky differ from the winds we usually experience on the surface of the Earth.