Global and Local Winds in New Zealand

           The latitude of New Zealand is 41 degrees south and the longitude is 174 degrees east. It is located in the southern hemisphere. New Zealand resides in the Ferrell Cell, which is 30-60 N & S.  They experience the Westerlies that blow from west to east. New Zealand is not located in a main pressure belt. These westerly winds are very sporadic and do not blow as often as trade winds. The subtropical highs (25-30 N & S) and subpolar low (50-60 N & S) are the closest pressure belts to New Zealand, but are still pretty far off. New Zealand is located in a special area called the Roaring Forties where these strong west-to-east air currents are mostly caused due to the fact that there are very little landmasses to serve as windbreaks.

            Being located in the Ferrell cell, New Zealand does not always have constant winds blowing.  This makes for a moderate, maritime climate and weather for the country.  The sea breezes coming from the west are also known as westerlies that blow towards the poles. New Zealand is somewhat near the subtropical high-pressure belt, but not close enough to have a lot of deserts.  The northern part of New Zealand experience more rain in the winter while the southern part experience more rainfall in the summer. There are moderate rains and still lots of hours of sunshine because the rains are only over short periods of time.

http://www.agiweb.org/education/energy/wind/index.html

New Zealand has long mountain chains extending throughout the country. Five types of breeze and winds that are associated with mountains are valley breezes, mountain breezes, katabatic winds, foehn winds, and Chinook winds.   New Zealand experiences foehn winds with dry air moving down the leeward slopes making east of the mountains dry. Also, of course it will experience the valley breezes during the day and the mountain breezes during the night because there are mountains present. New Zealand is a giant island that has coastlines on every side. Two breezes associated with coastlines are sea breezes and land breezes. New Zealand can and does experience sea breezes during the day and land breezes during the night.

Typical Weather and Tourism in New Zealand

The winter solstice for New Zealand occurs on June 21^st. The average maximum temperature during June is 54 degrees F. On the other hand, the average minimum temperature during June is 43 degrees F. Rain is most likely to occur on the winter solstice because the temperatures are not getting too low. The mountain ranges is where the only snowing will occur because it is at higher elevations, so the air is will reach lower temperatures.

The summer solstice for New Zealand occurs on December 21^st. The average maximum temperature during December is 66 degrees F. On the other hand, the average minimum temperature during December is 54 degrees F.  Little to no rain is likely to occur on the summer solstice because it is the start of the warm season. There will be sunnier days as the snow from the previous months continues to melt.

            The spring equinox occurs on September 23^rd. The average maximum temperature during September is 55 degrees F. The average minimum temperature during September is 45 degrees F.  There will be less rain present with the days getting longer and the sun giving off more heat. You won’t be experiencing any glaze, sleet, or hail of any sort in New Zealand during the spring equinox.

            The autumn equinox occurs on March 20^th.  The average maximum temperature during March is 66 degrees F. The average minimum temperature during March is 54 degrees F. It begins get a little cooler in March and there would will be slight increase in rain as it approaches winter. The precipitation is still very minor in New Zealand on the autumn equinox.

            Out of the four seasons, summer would have to be the best season to travel to New Zealand. Reason being, is that there are so many activities to do. Some activities include hiking and surfing. A heads up on surfing is to have a wetsuit because even though the temperature on land is warm, it may not be the same for in the ocean. There are not any potential weather hazards in the summer season because the temperature is at its warmest and there is not a lot of rain, so no need to worry about thunderstorms.

http://wallpapers-diq.com/wp/42__Anaura_Bay,_Gisborne,_New_Zealand.html

Visit New Zealand, it’s beautiful any season!!!

Temperature Controls in the city of Wellington in New Zealand

In this blog post, I will be covering the topic of temperature controls for the city of Wellington, New Zealand. Wellington is located at the southern part of North Island and is close to the ocean. There will be the discussion of what temperature controls affect Wellington and also the ones that do not.

The capital city of my New Zealand is Wellington. It is geographically located at 41°16'S, 174°45'E in the Southern Hemisphere. The warmest month in my city is February with an average monthly temperature of 63 degrees F. The coldest month in my city is July with an average monthly temperature of 47 degrees F. Based on this information, the annual range of temperature for Wellington is 16 degrees F, which isn’t too major of a change. The website where I found this information is http://www.wellington.climatemps.com/

With Wellington being near the ocean, ocean currents are one of the temperature controls that impact the city. Wellington is sort of in a gulf where the ocean water comes in. The water there is not cold enough to have icebergs, but it is cold enough for people to be wearing wetsuits when in the water. The ocean currents keep it warmer than other places because in the mountains, there aren’t any oceans there.

Wellington is only about 400 feet above sea level and having the city stretch down to the ocean, it’s pretty easy to tell that altitude is a temperature control that does not affect the city. If it were 2000 feet up, then altitude would come into play as a temperature control.

From how the earth’s temperature as whole has been changing in the recent years, the predictions for future years in Wellington is that the temperature will increase. The increase won’t be a drastic change, but it will make a difference in the long run couple hundred years from now. Oceans are becoming warmer and because of that, it will affect Wellington’s temperature being that it is very closely located to the ocean. Wellington’s geographical position will not be affected by climate changes in the future except that there will be stronger winds predicted and more storms. The temperature control cloud clover & albedo will come into effect for Wellington when more storms become present.

After doing research on the city of Wellington, New Zealand, there are a good amount of temperature controls that affect the city. Being that the city is basically right next to the ocean, it plays a big factor for temperature control. Wellington does not have extreme fluctuation in seasons, which is why so many people choose to live there.