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Perhaps coastal parts of the Pacific Northwest? Eureka, California around 40 latitude has a record high of only 31C.
Granted there may be some places (perhaps Sakhalin island/northern Japan as well? I know I wouldn't like their winters but don't know much about their summers) but 99% of low-altitude locations at that latitude, even most of the coastal ones will have warmer summers than Chch and more prolonged, intense heatwaves. I grew up thinking NZ was mostly subtropical apart from the snowy mountains and my ex-housemate from Auckland complaining about the British weather so much didn't really do anything to change that, but though I'd like the extra sunshine/milder winters I'd feel pretty shortchanged living at that latitude and having such variable summers.
I grew up thinking NZ was mostly subtropical apart from the snowy mountains and my ex-housemate from Auckland complaining about the British weather so much didn't really do anything to change that, but though I'd like the extra sunshine/milder winters I'd feel pretty shortchanged living at that latitude and having such variable summers.
Yeah, I always used to think that New Zealand was subtropical too, mostly because of the look of the landscape and vegetation made it look deceptively warm -- palm trees and lush forests etc. shown in magazines and books. They look more like "real" tropics should than other places that share it's climate (at least somewhat) such as the Pacific northwest with it's needleleaf evergreens or European-style deciduous trees.
I'm guessing your housemate was mainly complaining about the gloom rather than the cold? I'd imagine moving from NZ to the UK wouldn't be too hard of an adjustment in terms of temperature (other than taking a bit of chillier winter).
Yeah, I always used to think that New Zealand was subtropical too, mostly because of the look of the landscape and vegetation made it look deceptively warm -- palm trees and lush forests etc. shown in magazines and books. They look more like "real" tropics should than other places that share it's climate (at least somewhat) such as the Pacific northwest with it's needleleaf evergreens or European-style deciduous trees.
I'm guessing your housemate was mainly complaining about the gloom rather than the cold? I'd imagine moving from NZ to the UK wouldn't be too hard of an adjustment in terms of temperature (other than taking a bit of chillier winter).
Yeah, he couldn't get used to the idea of November and December being dark and gloomy compared to back home. Though looking at Auckland's climate it does look almost ideal for outdoor stuff with those mild, sunny winters, or "winters" as I'd probably think. The climate sounds boring but I doubt the day-to-day weather is. I've got friends who spent two months backpacking through NZ in their winter and they say the lighter, sunnier conditions are much more bearable than here.
Yeah, he couldn't get used to the idea of November and December being dark and gloomy compared to back home. Though looking at Auckland's climate it does look almost ideal for outdoor stuff with those mild, sunny winters, or "winters" as I'd probably think. The climate sounds boring but I doubt the day-to-day weather is. I've got friends who spent two months backpacking through NZ in their winter and they say the lighter, sunnier conditions are much more bearable than here.
Given that NZ has places (eg) like the Nelson-Motueka area (or around Blenheim for that matter) with 2450 hours of sunshine and about 900mm annual rainfall (but considerable monthly variability in the latter) despite the generally "unpredictable" swings in conditions, it's not at all boring except for thunderstorm obsessives, and the higher sunshine levels make its weather much more desirable than the UK for my tastes. Spending a year in the UK with hazier skies and poor sunshine totals would be a real challenge for me, especially in winter - both boring and depressing. The highest ever "safe" reading of % possible sunshine in a month in NZ occurred in a midwinter month! (Blenheim and Nelson had 84% and 83% sun in July 1952). of the popele I know here who once lived in the UK, not one of them pines for the climate they once lived with!
Most parts of NZ are capable of extremely rapid changes in the day-to-day weather, and between stable sunny spells and changeable/wet /stormy ones.
Given that NZ has places (eg) like the Nelson-Motueka area (or around Blenheim for that matter) with 2450 hours of sunshine and about 900mm annual rainfall (but considerable monthly variability in the latter) despite the generally "unpredictable" swings in conditions, it's not at all boring except for thunderstorm obsessives, and the higher sunshine levels make its weather much more desirable than the UK for my tastes. Spending a year in the UK with hazier skies and poor sunshine totals would be a real challenge for me, especially in winter - both boring and depressing. The highest ever "safe" reading of % possible sunshine in a month in NZ occurred in a midwinter month! (Blenheim and Nelson had 84% and 83% sun in July 1952). of the popele I know here who once lived in the UK, not one of them pines for the climate they once lived with!
Most parts of NZ are capable of extremely rapid changes in the day-to-day weather, and between stable sunny spells and changeable/wet /stormy ones.
Oh yes, I'm sure from a weather perspective NZ beats us hands down with the milder and sunnier winters (though with snowy mountains not far away - best of both worlds), though I wouldn't want a summer cooler than the one I have here. If there wasn't enough to keep me in this country NZ would be high on my list of possible destinations. You say there aren't many thunderstorms but there's a fair amount of rain in most of the country - is it largely heavy, short bursts just without thunder? Do you get wild, wet and windy spells like Wales/northern England/Scotland can get one after another for weeks in the wintertime? And it's pretty ironic when Blenheim and Nelson got those records - I suppose you know what happened in London in winter 1952 and thankfully couldn't happen again? BBC NEWS | UK | England | The Great Smog of London
You misinterpreted my comment. I said that London has better summer temps than nearly everywhere in NZ... despite being much further from the equator.
Wouldn't you rather live in one of the places in NZ that does have warmer summers than NZ? Or one of the places that has marginally cooler summers, but milder winters and a thousand more hours of annual sunshine? I'm not a fan of NZ's climate, but my patriotic fervour compells me to defend it against this Antipodean assault!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Weatherfan2
And NZ does have one of the most boring climates on earth. Even buxton's is more interesting.
Climate "boredom" is entirely subjective. And Buxton has a horrendous climate, far worse than anywhere in NZ -- even Invercargill is better!
Quote:
Originally Posted by ben86
though I'd like the extra sunshine/milder winters I'd feel pretty shortchanged living at that latitude and having such variable summers.
Seriously, what does everyone expect of us? NZ is an isolated mid-latitudinal island nation. Where do Europeans get this idea of NZ being a subtropical paradise? It's not that NZ is cool for its latitude. Rather, the British Isles (and the rest of Western Europe) is VERY warm for its latitude (mean temps are similar to what would be expected nearly ten degrees closer to the equator). Also, the Northern Hemisphere is warmer on average (and has greater seasonal variation) than the Southern for a given latitude.
NZ's climate is a big improvement on that of the British Isles. London's summers are probably the warmest in all of Britain and most NZ cities north of 40 S have warmer summers than London. The rest of the UK is colder than almost anywhere in NZ. I often watch shows like "Grand Designs" and always find it funny to hear the presenters say things like "Cornwall boasts an incredible 1800 hours of sunshine per annum!" For that matter, check out the climate stats for Cornwall (the southernmost region in the UK) -- it's a good laugh: Cornwall - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Why is it that San Francisco is never mocked for its cool summers relative to latitude? Or, for that matter, Vladivostok for its cold winters? Frankly, many posters here appear to be jealous of the Southern Hemisphere. They envy its clean air and superior natural beauty.
Last edited by ChesterNZ; 02-13-2011 at 12:33 PM..
Climate "boredom" is entirely subjective. And Buxton has a horrendous climate, far worse than anywhere in NZ -- even Invercargill is better!
All I have to do to get a climate that is warmer than Invercargill (with warmer summers) is move down 1,000ft, I can just relocate to Manchester just 25 miles away, which I'm doing this year. I'm leaving Buxton in less than 6 months! Yay. It's only because it's 1,100ft up that's is as cold and wet as it is. Funnily enough Buxton's July and August are warmer than Invercagills Jan & Feb actually.
There's areas on the south coast of England I could relocate to easily and get warmer summers than 80% of NZ and 1,950 annual sunshine hours. You'd have to move country to get an appreciably better climate than what you're currently in.
Oh yes, I'm sure from a weather perspective NZ beats us hands down with the milder and sunnier winters (though with snowy mountains not far away - best of both worlds), though I wouldn't want a summer cooler than the one I have here. If there wasn't enough to keep me in this country NZ would be high on my list of possible destinations. You say there aren't many thunderstorms but there's a fair amount of rain in most of the country - is it largely heavy, short bursts just without thunder? Do you get wild, wet and windy spells like Wales/northern England/Scotland can get one after another for weeks in the wintertime? And it's pretty ironic when Blenheim and Nelson got those records - I suppose you know what happened in London in winter 1952 and thankfully couldn't happen again? BBC NEWS | UK | England | The Great Smog of London
On the west coast of the SI rainfall is quite often accompanied by thunder - there, and in many other western, and some northern, places, thunder is heard 15-20 days per year.
Rainfall types depend very much on the area and windflow - the whole range exists, from short heavy frontal showers, all-day moderate rain, downpours of tropical intensity even if not ex-tropical in nature, slow drizzly passages over 2-3 days, etc. Hard to generalise because the annual rainfalls vary from about 345mm to 11,500mm+ (alpine windward zone, where averages of 16,000mm might exist), and numbers of 1.0mm+ raindays range from about 65 to 180. Rivers respond dramatically to heavy rainfalls as the transitions times from catchment to coast are generally very short, given so much steep terrain.
About 20 tornadoes (F0 or F1, but in 1948 there was an F2 near Hamilton which caused a death) or waterspouts are reported per year (whole country).
Poulltion nowadays - eg from vehicles - is of the more insidious sort. The 1952 event was horrendous.
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