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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.
It's the mental images of evergreens/palm trees that give us the impression NZ is warmer than it is, plus the low latitude compared to us, plus the fact your nearest neighbour is known as a very hot country, plus the fact the native NZers have dark skin, plus the NZers I've met here who've complained about our weather, plus the New Zealand immigration adverts we've all seen on our TV nearly all show sunny summer scenes.
Your Chch SUMMERS, not winters statistically are cooler than most places on the Earth at 44 latitude (you've made that point enough yourself) and our WINTERS are very mild for our latitude rather than it a being year-round thing. I've just said above that your climate overall beats ours IMO.
You might laugh at Cornwall for some reason but there is nowhere else on Earth above 50 degrees where people can grow such a variety of sub-tropical plants (I've heard there is even a small-scale tea plantation there), and where grass grows and people can wear shorts almost 12 months a year.
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.
No he wouldn't - he could try Nelson. Average sunshine over the last 15 years > 2500 hours, pleasant summer day temps. with sea breezes near the water and hotter conditions further away.
Returning to the "boring" assertion - from a rainfall point of view, NZ has a lot of interesting features, because of the complex topography and mid-latitude oceanic aspect, with a major mountain chain adding to the complications. Not boring at all.
Your Chch SUMMERS, not winters statistically are cooler than most places on the Earth at 44 latitude (you've made that point enough yourself)
Not really, I just like to moan for the sake of it. Make sure you compare like with like -- obviously continental climates at 44 N (the majority of places at 44 degrees latitude) will have warmer summers. Christchurch's summers are roughly what one would expect for a maritime climate at 44 S. Compare ChCh's antipode A Coruna, Spain, for instance, which has the same mean high in the warmest month despite the many factors which might cause it to tend towards higher temps.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ben86
people can wear shorts almost 12 months a year.
LOL, I wouldn't wear shorts in July in Cornwall, much less the rest of the year!
Not really, I just like to moan for the sake of it. Make sure you compare like with like -- obviously continental climates at 44 N (the majority of places at 44 degrees latitude) will have warmer summers. Christchurch's summers are roughly what one would expect for a maritime climate at 44 S. Compare ChCh's antipode A Coruna, Spain, for instance, which has the same mean high in the warmest month despite the many factors which might cause it to tend towards higher temps.
LOL, I wouldn't wear shorts in July in Cornwall, much less the rest of the year!
What you forget is that Cornwall being on the penninsula, has much more moderated temperatures than the inland south. London gets avg highs of 24°C in July in comparison to the 20°C in Cornwall.
What you forget is that Cornwall being on the penninsula, has much more moderated temperatures than the inland south. London gets avg highs of 24°C in July in comparison to the 20°C in Cornwall.
Doesn't the urban heat island affect play into it as well?
Not really, I just like to moan for the sake of it.
You don't say...
Quote:
Originally Posted by ChesterNZ
LOL, I wouldn't wear shorts in July in Cornwall, much less the rest of the year!
People do though for much or most of the year. They're well known for it down there. Even in London with the 10C temperatures we've been having I've already seen people dressed more for summer.
Doesn't the urban heat island affect play into it as well?
Even if there wasn't a city here this location would still have some of the warmest summers in this country being nearer the continent where all our summer warmth comes from, away from sea breezes and away from the Atlantic fronts and being in a slight valley, but yes, it does play a contributing factor.
There's no guarantee that winter is coming to a close here but we are expected to have some pleasantly warmer temps in the 50's for a week to 10 days. I'll take it, even if we do get a return to winter and some more serious snow in March.
I would like NZ for the cloudiness and cool temperatures. Include any areas known for a decent amount of wind and rain and I'd be quite content there.
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