Chris B. wrote;
>
> I'd love to know, Brian, how the weather works in your part of the world.
> Ours is a maritime climate, affected by the Atlantic, the Gulf Stream and
> much moisture, normally.
There are many different climates in this little country, Chris.
New Zealand is a long thin country.
Think 1200 miles long and averaging ?? 150 - 200 miles wide
The warm end is about at equivalent latitudes to Gibraltar and the southern
about equivalent to Devon, but without the Gulf Stream to warm it.
The South Island has a backbone of high Alps rising to 12,300 ft at Mt Cook
For the mid North Island southwards, the climate is determined by an
endless succession of low and high pressure areas with cold fronts between
them. We do get affected by weather patterns from Australia 1400 miles to
the west; but mostly this seems to be from about Auckland at the north.
They have some glorious sunsets there which I suspect include a lot of
suspended dust from the Australian deserts.
The very north of the country has more tropical influences.
I think the climate is characterised generally as maritime, but where I live is
somewhat more continental with quite hot summers and winters that can be
cold. In fact the Southern Alps are quite to very cold in winter.
Generally, and especially in the south, the west is very wet and the central
and eastern parts tend to be quite dry. This is due to the orographic effects
of moist air passing over the Alps. With increasing altitude, the clouds are
forced to dump their water as water or snow, then proceed easterly to
dessicate things out.
How's that for a thumbnail sketch?
Brian Swale
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