Meteorological Society of New Zealand Newsletter - Sep 2011 - Page 1 ISSN 0111-1736 Meteorological Society Of New Zealand (Inc.) NEWSLETTER 126 SEPTEMBER 2011 Meteorological Society of New Zealand Newsletter - Sep 2011 - Page 2 Meteorological Society Of New Zealand (Inc.) NEWSLETTER 126 SEPTEMBER 2011 PO Box 6523, Marion Square, Wellington 6141, New Zealand Please forward contributions to Bob McDavitt, [email protected] CONTENTS Page AGM + other notices 3 Wairarapa Weather Watchers 4-7 Avondale Tornado 7-8 Winter 2011 (NIWA + Ben Tichborne) 9-18 Autumn – in the media 19-47 Your Committee until the AGM President Andrew Tait [email protected] Immediate Past President Kim Dirks [email protected] Auckland VP Jennifer Salmond [email protected] Wellington VP James Renwick [email protected] Christchurch VP Colin Simpson Dunedin VP vacant Secretary Sam Dean [email protected] Treasurer Alan Porteous [email protected] Circulation Manager Sylvia Nichol [email protected] Journal Editor Brian Giles [email protected] Newsletter Editor Bob McDavitt [email protected] Wed Editor Peter Knudsen Hydrological Soc Liaison Charles Pearson [email protected] General Committee Jim Salinger [email protected] Mike Revell [email protected] Katrina Richards [email protected] Gareth Renowden [email protected] Duncan Ackerley Views and endorsements expressed in this newsletter are those of the contributors and advertisers, and not necessarily those of the Meteorological Society of New Zealand. The mention of specific companies or products does not imply that they are endorsed or recommended by the Society. Meteorological Society of New Zealand Newsletter - Sep 2011 - Page 3 OFFICIAL NOTICE of Met Society 2011 AGM You are invited to attend our 32nd Annual General Meeting This is planned for 5:30pm at the end of the first day of our Annual Conference at Trailways Hotel, Nelson on Monday 14 Nov 2011. All financial members are allowed to attend. Apologies may be emailed to [email protected] Agenda 1. Attendance 2. Apologies 3. Confirmation of minutes of previous AGM 4. Matters Arising: 5. President’s Report 6. Treasurer’s Report 7. Appointment of Auditor 8. Subscription Rate 9. Election of Officers 10. Other Matters 36 speakers (including three international) plus 11 posters. May also get two round-the- world cyclists showing up. They are cycling to raise money for AIDS research and climate change awareness. For more information see http://metsoc.science.org.nz/MetSocActivities/Conferences.htm New website address: The Met Society website URL is now http://metsoc.science.org.nz. The old URL (http://metsoc.rsnz.org) was still working in October but is likely to be decommis- sioned soon. Report from the Branches- recent meetings: The School of Environment hosted two seminars in Auckland : Differences and sensitivities in potential hydrologic impact of climate change to regional-scale Athabasca and Fraser River Basins, Canadian Rocky Mountains by Professor Thian Y Gan from The University of Alberta, Canada, 5 September 2011 Preparing for White Swans: Climate Change and opportunities for the economy by Dr J. Salinger (University of Auckland and the University of Tasmania), Professor Caroline Saunders (Lincoln University) and Rod Oram (award winning financial and business journalist and Ra- dio New Zealand National/Sunday Star Times commentator), 2 September 2011. Meteorological Society of New Zealand Newsletter - Sep 2011 - Page 4 WAIRARAPA WEATHER WATCHERS - 1990-2011 It was a Wellington Weather Watchers (see Appendix 1 picnic at Ian Campbell's Awarua farm on the northern Wairarapa plains in early March 1990 that led to the subsequent formation of Wairarapa Weather Watchers. Barely two months later, on Monday 21 May 1990, nine people attended an evening meeting at the Masterton home of Alex Neale. At that meeting it was de- cided to form an 'interest group', to be known as Wairarapa Weather Watchers, whose aims would primarily be 'to promote a greater understanding of weather and climate, especially as they affect Wairarapa, and to foster the exchange of ideas and observations of local weather conditions'. In addition to the nine who attended, two others who could not come along, had already expressed their support for such a group. These eleven founding members were all from Wairarapa: Brian Cameron, Derek Daniell, Barry Kempton, Alex Neale, Joan Richardson, Alf Richardson, Brenda Wallis, Brian Wallis, Barry Weaver, Wally Wilkins and Merv Wilson. Alex Neale was elected as group leader and Newsletter editor, and finances were looked after by Merv Wilson For much of its existence, the Wairarapa Weather Watchers (henceforth referred to simply as Weather Watchers) produced and distributed to members a Newsletter of six A4 pages con- taining items related to weather events, past and current; such items were adapted from newspaper articles and weather journals or produced locally. There would be six Newsletters yearly at about two-monthly intervals, and there would be six evening meetings annually. As time passed, membership grew steadily – as existing members told friends about the group – from the original eleven to a peak of about forty by 2000; later, as the average age of members increased, meetings in the winter months grew less popular, resulting in less frequent meet- ings and those remaining were confined to the summer, while Newsletters too reduced in fre- quency. Finally, in 2011, the group drew to a close with a membership of twenty-seven: Shane Atkinson, Jim Buchanan, Brian Cameron, Ewen Cameron, Ian Campbell, Colin Coutts, Derek Daniell, Mike Daniell, Hilton Dickens, David and Hilary Drane, Joan Duirs, Rodney Dun- can, Roger Bibbs, Isabel Guscott, Fred Jolly, Bill Lees (Australia), Harry McArthur, Derek and Margaret Milne, John Moriarty, Alex Neale, Glyn Saunders, Margaret Smith, Lorraine Suther- land, John Thompson and Merv Wilson. Evening meetings Frequently meetings were chaired by Alex Neale, who also presented many of the main items discussed; however, from time to time there were talks by guest speakers. 1990: In May, at our inaugural meeting, guest Harry McArthur spoke about his talking weather observations when he worked at Wairongomai farmstead, a climatological station, in one of the most windy sites in the hill country on the western side of Lake Wairarapa – not far from there a railway engine was once blown off the rails at a time when the Wellington- Masterton line travelled 'over the top' before the Rimutaka tunnel was built. 1991: In November, one of our members, Graeme Elliott, spoke of his wartime experiences in the Met Service when, as a young recruit, he spent time in Gisborne before moving to Norfolk Island, and then to Espiritu Santo in what is now Vanuatu. At the end of the war he returned to Gisborne before leaving the Met Service. 1992: In December, Fred Jolly, another of our members, gave a most interesting talk: Weather Reflections, recalling his experiences in the southwest Pacific during the war. Being an enthu- siastic photographer, Fred was soon capturing images of the beautiful tropical skies. His ex- periences of flying in Catalina flyingboats kept the audience enthrawled. 1993: In January, Augie Auer of the New Zealand Meteorological Service, gave a talk entitled Early seekers after Weather Knowledge . This happened to be the first meeting at a new venue - The Masterton Bowling Club - a move from our earlier home at the Wairarapa Power Board having become necessary due to changes in the electricity industry. 1993: In August, Tony Bromley (NIWA) spoke about his experiences in Antarctica and his role in weather watching. 1994: In August, Cameron Coutts, Presentation Forecaster for MetService, described his two one-year tours of duty on Raoul Island, largest - and volcanic – island of the subtropical Ker- madec Island group that is located midway between Auckland and Tonga. 1994: In September, Augie Auer (MetService, Kelburn) gave a highly entertaining account of his experiences while participating in weather research while in Wyoming, USA. 1995: In January, at our normal evening meeting, we hosted some members of the Wairarapa gliding fraternity who had been at the recent World Gliding Championships in Omarama, inland Otago. They recounted some of their experiences whilst there. 1996: In September, Alf Richardson (one of our members) gave an illustrated talk on the many ways in which the ocean and its worldwide circulations influence the world's weather and climate. 1998: In August, Paul Walker, Civil Defence Masterton, along with other Wairarapa Civil De- fence Officers Mike Daniell (Masterton, and one of our members), and Bill Gibson (South Wairarapa) spoke about 'Civil Defence and the Weather', and how weather affects their ap- proach to their Civil Defence role. 2001: In June, Glyn Saunders, one of our members, gave a talk describing the climate and geo- graphical factors affecting our southern alpine region, and how they influence the waterways as regards marine life, and rivers. 2002: In November, Alan Porteous of NIWA gave an informative talk about agriculture and cli- mate which initiated earger questioning by the audience. Special events 1991: In March, twenty of our members visited the Meteorological Office in Wellington for an evening arranged in conjunction with Wellington Weather Watchers. We were entertained to a talk by Eric Brenstrum, meteorologist in the Training Section in Kelburn. 1992: The Meteorological Sociery (of NZ) arranged an amateur day in March at the Met Office in Kelburn. Five of our members travelled to Wellington in the early afternoon, to become part of a group of some thirty people who heard talks by several MetService meteorologists, including Augie Auer. In the evening the group, now down to twenty, were entertained with more weather talk at the home of Jim and Carla Salinger. 1993: In March, Wellington and Wairarapa Weather Watchers held a combined picnic day at Awarua, Ian Campbell's farm north of Masterton.