Patience! Summer’s on its way
Weather experts are predicting a late-blooming summer for Taranaki amidst a so-far wet and windy few months.
In January last year the average temperature was sitting at just above 18 degrees Celsius, but so far this year New Plymouth has been lucky to see temperatures rise above 15 degrees.
It’s a far cry from 2016, which clocked in as our hottest February on record with an average temperature of 20.6 degrees.
However, National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (Niwa) principal scientist Ben Noll said the dark days for the city - and the region - could be over soon.
‘‘Last year we had totally different weather patterns which favoured northerly or north westerly winds,’’ he said.
‘‘This year we’re seeing the prevailing winds coming from the south, and any wind from there is going to be much cooler than from the north.’’
Noll said the second half of summer was where New Plymouth really started to heat up and while he wasn’t expecting another ‘‘hottest on record’’ February he did expect it to improve.
‘‘Looking at our climate outlook, Taranaki has a 40 per cent chance of having temperatures near average, and equal chances of either above or below,’’ he said.
‘‘But there are some indications that later in January we’re going to see more of those warmer northerly winds coming through.
‘‘If that does transpire then it could be a late-blooming summer.’’
However, the region still has to get over the next ‘‘hump week’’, with MetService predicting rain and temperatures below 15 degrees Celsius until at least January 17.
Niwa also released its annual climate summary for 2016 which shows Taranaki’s descent into below normal sunshine hours.
This was a stark fall from grace for New Plymouth after clocking in as the sunniest place in the country in April - and claiming the second-most sunshine hours in 2014 and 2015
November continued the trend in fewer sunshine hours while December also saw a drop in average temperature for much of the central North Island.
Coinciding with the lack of sunshine and the disappointingly low temperatures this summer has been a lack of swell and favourable winds for surfing in the region.
MetOcean solutions managing director and oceanographer, Peter McComb, said summer so far had seen prevailing westerly and southerly winds.
‘‘Which is great for kitesurfing but simply the worst direction for surfing,’’ he said. ‘‘This typically occurs during an el nino year.’’
McComb said the persistent westerlies were due to the path of migrating high pressure systems.
‘‘They pass more to the north of NZ rather than settling over the country.
Also, energetic conditions currently prevail in the Southern Ocean, and a fresh westerly sector airflow is frequently being directed over us.
‘‘The strong winds keep the ocean well-mixed and that has lowered the sea surface temperature here in Taranaki.’’
He said the ‘‘good news’’ was that the end of February was looking favourable both weather-wise and surf-wise. A 50-year-old unopened bottle of what looks home brew has been found in the basement of a New Plymouth house.
Kim Mallowes was helping his mother move out when he found the bottle, which he reckons dates from around 1966.
‘‘It may have been brewed wine or grape.
‘‘I think it’s a fun label. It’s called De Mannekin, product of Hintons Brewery Unlimited.’’
At the time the family lived on Mokohinau Island in the Hauraki Gulf, where Mallowes’ father was lighthouse keeper.
‘‘I was only a young fella, probably about 6 or 7 years old at the time, and every year we used to get Christmas gifts from the Kawau fishing club for weighing all the game fish.’’
The fishing club ran contests and his father used to weigh the fish, he said. home-
‘‘It was a gift to say thanks. It came with a silver tray.
‘‘I’m a little bit dubious about cracking it open. I didn’t know it was still there, in the basement. Not too sure what to do with it.
‘‘I imagine it would quite nasty by now, just looking at the cap. I’m sort of tempted to crack it open, but the smell might get to you. It’s probably a bit of air got in there.’’
Since posting a picture on Facebook, he has changed his mind about dumping it.
‘‘There’s been so much interest in it I might put it on Trade Me.’’
Another bottle Mallowes found, this one empty, is from Western Bottling, a Taranaki soft drink company from back in the day.
He posted a picture of the bottle on his history Facebook page and it gained nearly 1000 hits overnight.
The Western Bottling Company took over Sykes Cordials and then was itself taken over by Coca-Cola Amatil in the 1980s.
The family moved to Taranaki in 1969 and lived at the Cape Egmont Lighthouse.
Mallowes’ mother, Lillian, moved to the New Plymouth house in 1978 and he was now helping her move out, he said.
‘‘She’s been a bit of a hoarder. There’s a lot of rubbish, but I’ve come across the occasional treasure.’’