You will have already notice a new template across the site. It's a great template by the team at Siteground, that has 5 modes - one representing each of the seasons and another for night time. We've also taken the opportunity to re-build the site in the latest version of Joomla CMS. All in all there is alot of change and it will take a while to sort things out, but to ensure site continuity we have made the Maungaraki weather details available , and kept the site up. PLease bear with us as we work through the immense number of changes that need to occur to get the site into a semblence of order again!
Welcome to Winter 09
Here at Hutt Weather we have a tradition of welcoming in the first snowfall of the season. Not sure what it is, but for those interested in the weather those dreary cold days mark the start of an interesting weather pattern of storms, rainfall and maybe the odd snowfall on the hills.
Little did anyone suspect that this year, winter would arrive with a polar blast so early in the season. The weekend of 30th to 31st May marked an unsettled period as southerly winds sourccing cold air from Antarctic waters brought a blustery southerly with hail, rain and even snow around the suburbs in Wellington. Snow was even rumoured to be falling in Willis street, at sea level in central Wellington, something that last happened around 40 years ago. Of course I was out trying to brave the elements for your viewing pleasure, and this is the evidence after one particularly viscious hailstorm made it's way through Maungaraki. Check out our YouTube video here and then look at the aftermath below.
After years of planning (well years of thinking), a few hours swearing in the roof yesterday, a large slice through a finger, a few holes in the house, and some large bits of sticky tape (on the camera not the finger!), the weather cam is now up and running. You can find it on the Weather Webcam link, on the Maungaraki Weather menu to the left. Feel free to leave comments
Southerly front makes it's way north
A southerly front made it's way through Wellington on the 25th October, and we were able to capture some dramatic shots as it came through. Enjoy!
First Snowfall for 2008 Winter Season
Anyone who was wondering about the whereabouts of winter this year, received a reality check over the last weekend. The following is a picture of the mountains on the eastern side of the Hutt Valley, showing just why it was so cold over the weekend. The snowfall was at the tail end of a southerly storm, which passed through on the 4th May.
Snow like this happens around 4 or 5 times a year in Wellington - so it's not that common. It very rarely (if ever) snows in the valley itself, which is essentially at sea level.
The photo is of the Rimutaka's, above Wainuiomata. The Seaview marina can be seen in the foreground.
The drought has broken
Well maybe not - not wanting to tempt fate or anything, but the region is currently undergoing some reasonable rainfall at last - with 35 mm being recorded in the last 7 hours. I came across the photo below, which I guess sums it up - it's of the motorway at the bottom of the Maungaraki hill (those that know the area, the Dowse to Petone interchange work)
Tide information for Wellington harbour now available
Tide information for Wellington harbour is now available from the website -follow the link from the left hand side menu. If this information is useful to you, please
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- it encourages us to provide more information for you!
We are now doing FWI calculations!
Just in time for the summer heat, we are now providing daily Fire Danger reports. Details on how to interpret these can be found here. If you find this information useful, then please let us know.
Heavy Rain announces arrival of Autumn
Severe weather in the Wellington region has been a distant memory for the past few months. Luckily, after an extremely wet spring, summer has been unremarkable, meaning that those in the region have enjoyed a number of the warm windless days that Wellingtonians live in the area for.
The calm came to an abrupt halt on the morning of Wednesday 2nd March when torrential rain fell in the area causing significant flooding. The MetService, located in Wellington's central suburb of Kelburn, recorded 10mm of rain in just 4 minutes! Additionally, within a 2 hour period, over half the monthly average for May was recorded in Wellington. Further details can be found here
The rain caused a number of accidents along with several slips in the region.
Further up the Hutt Valley, where the Maungaraki weather station is located, just 17mm of rain was recorded in the same period, indicating how patchy the heavy rainfall was.
