09.07.10

World Wide Weather #16: Christchurch, New Zealand

Posted in Non-US Weather, Weather News at 6:43 pm by Rebekah

This week’s post in the global weather and climate series features Christchurch, New Zealand.

Christchurch, in the region of Canterbury, lies about 1/3 of the way down the southeast coast of New Zealand’s South Island (43.5 °S, 172.5 °E). New Zealand is about 1,200 miles southeast of Australia. Bordered by rivers, the Canterbury Plains, the Port Hills (a volcanic mountain range), and the Pacific Ocean, Christchurch, with a population of 386,000, is the second largest city in New Zealand, after Auckland (pop. 1.3 million), on the North Island.

Christchurch has one of the highest quality water supplies in the world. This water comes from aquifers in the Southern Alps, a mountain range that runs northeast to southwest across the South Island. The pristine scenery of New Zealand has served as the backdrop for several movies, including The Lord of the Rings trilogy and The Chronicle of Narnia: the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.

The United States uses Christchurch International Airport as the takeoff point for the main supply route to McMurdo and Scott Bases in Antarctica.

On Saturday, 4 September 2010, a 7.1 magnitude earthquake struck about 25 miles west of the center of Christchurch, causing about $2 billion NZD in damage (about $1.5 billion USD).

A few more facts about Christchurch (from Wikipedia):

• Time zone: New Zealand Standard Time (UTC+12) or New Zealand Daylight Time (UTC+13)
• Elevation: 0 to 3,018 feet
• Climate zone: Temperate, dry (also oceanic)
• Average high temperature: 63 °F (17 °C)
• Average low temperature: 45 °F (7 °C)
• Record high temperature: 107 °F (42 °C)
• Average annual precipitation: 25.5 inches (648 mm)
• Snowfall: occurs on average once or twice a year in the hills, and once or twice every two years in the plains

Current weather: It is late winter in Christchurch, so temperatures are cooler and the weather is wetter. Christchurch is currently under a high pressure system, which spins counter-clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere. This is bringing the city easterly winds, which are responsible in part for the rainy weather.

Lows this week are in the lower 40s and highs are in the mid- to upper 50s. Christchurch is expecting rain/drizzle all week.

Occasionally tropical cyclones approach New Zealand, during the Southern Hemisphere summer months (December – April), but by the time they reach that latitude, they are usually weaker and have lost some of their tropical characteristics.

For weather maps and information on current and forecast Christchurch and New Zealand weather, see the Meteorological Service of New Zealand Limited (New Zealand’s weather service), Weather Zone (Australia’s leading commercial weather information provider), and Weather Underground.

For more information on Christchurch, here’s a link to Wikipedia. For information on New Zealand, here’s another link to Wikipedia.

Next Tuesday I plan to take a look at the climate and weather in another part of the globe.  As always, if you have any comments or suggestions for future cities, please leave a comment on this post!

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