A Southerly 'Buster'

On Monday 28th November 2011, a south to southwest change swept its way northwards across Otago and Canterbury during the afternoon.   Temperatures soared to 28°C preceding this change then rapidly plummeted to around 16°C.  This was a good example of what is known in Australasia as a ‘buster'.

Early October Snow

October 2009

The snow that closed the Desert Road and Napier-Taupo Road from Sun 4th to Tue 6th  October 2009 was unseasonable.  It was caused by a low pressure system deepening over the area at the same time as a cold southerly flow arrived, resulting in moist air being cooled from below in a cauldron of lowering pressure.  This produced an unusually heavy amount of snow over a wide area. The weather map for noon on Sunday shows the low pressure system forming over the Central North Island

21 August - Anniversary of Meteorological Service in NZ

On 21 August in 1861, Dr. Charles Knight was appointed the first Director of Meteorological Stations in New Zealand.

His appointment marked the founding of the New Zealand Meteorological Service – this country’s oldest continuous scientific institution. Early missionaries and settlers quickly realised our coasts were subject to rapid changes of weather, with frequent violent storms. In the 1840s and 1850s weather studies were made by military officers, but in 1859 the government put weather stations on a more formal footing.