Jackie is ready/delivered
Snow in Calcutta St, Khandallah, on August 14, 2011.
It was a glorious weekend in Wellington after a long, cold and wet winter.
The sun has come out and the temperature has risen above 10C on both Saturday and Sunday – quite an achievement considering the first nine days of August on average only 3.8 hours of sun per day.
MONIQUE FORD/Things
The same scene on a warm Sunday, 11 years later.
But it could be worse. Exactly 11 years ago, the capital had a huge snow dump not seen since the 70s.
It was described at the time as a “once in a generation” storm.
Maarten Hol/Stuff
A thick layer of snow in the Brooklyn suburb in 2011.
The snowfall was the first such storm since 1976 to hit Wellington, and August 15 was the second coldest day since records began at Wellington Airport in 1959.
Strong southern storms, fresh off the Antarctic ice shelf, ravaged New Zealand, making it feel bitterly cold and causing snow storms in places.
MONIQUE FORD/Things
The same day, 11 years later. Snow free and love it.
There were power cuts, school and road closures, treacherous driving conditions and public transport failures.
Yo-yo weather patterns seem to be here to stay, however. Kiwis have seen temperatures rise to 40C in Europe and North America, leading to deaths, fires, crop failures and widespread drought.
GOODS
Niwa weather forecaster Nava Fedaeff says that if we look to the future, heat waves are expected to become more frequent.
But as the days get longer, Niwa weather forecaster Nava Fedaeff said she wouldn’t be surprised if New Zealand had its own record-breaking heatwaves this summer.
“We haven’t had 40C in the North Island yet, but I don’t think that’s unlikely,” Fedaeff said.
The most recent 40-plus day in New Zealand was in 2011 at Timaru Airport.