Gareth Renowden • Sep 02, 2013 •
It’s time for another update on the antics of our favourite climate cranks — and this week’s star is New Zealand’s very own über crank, weather astrologer Ken Ring. He’s been reinventing NZ’s warmest-ever winter to make it fit with his forecasts. Here’s Ken, back in April, in a piece headlined “Severe winter ahead” [WebCite1]: […] … Read More
Waiology • Jun 20, 2013 •
By Daniel Collins With the current storm crossing the country this week, NIWA has kicked off its Citizen Snow Project. The project seeks assistance from public at large to contribute to New Zealand’s snow science research by gathering snow measurements at home, in their neighbourhood, or wherever they may be. Snow measurements at NIWA’s Tekapo field office, … Read More
Grant Jacobs • Jun 20, 2013 •
If you live below 300m in New Zealand you can help NIWA out by measuring how deep the snow is at your place. Instructions are on their website. Go to it! Footnotes This must be my shortest post ever! Still to short on free time to write… (but I will be back…) Other articles on Code for … Read More
Gareth Renowden • Apr 01, 2013 •
It’s been a cold and snowy end to winter in Britain and much of Europe. The worst March snowfall for 30 years (according to The Telegraph) caused significant disruption to much of the UK, and lead to heavy loss of sheep and lambs in Wales. The UK Met Office reports that March is likely to [...] … Read More
Waiology • Nov 27, 2012 •
By Daniel Collins Maps are helpful tools in communicating and understanding the potential implications of climate change. We have national maps of projected changes in temperature that show faster warming in the north, and in precipitation that show more rain in the south and west and less in the north and east. We also have national maps of … Read More
Gareth Renowden • Jun 09, 2012 •
From NASA’s Earth Observatory: yesterday’s Image Of The Day (RSS feed) was this stunning picture of an intense high pressure system over the Great Australian Bight to the southwest of Tasmania, acquired by the MODIS sensor on the Aqua satellite on June 5th. In high pressure systems, dry descending air suppresses cloud formation, in this [...] … Read More
Waiology • Jun 08, 2012 •
By Daniel Collins The snowstorm that covered much of the South Island with a white veil on Wednesday cut power to over a thousand homes and closed many schools and businesses. But in the midst of the disruption was a rare opportunity to do some important science: to measure the amount and density of the snow that fell at … Read More
Waiology • Jun 06, 2012 •
By Daniel Collins and Ross Woods Measurements of snowfall at low elevations around New Zealand are few and far between, and yet the data would be really helpful in understanding how snowfall occurs and quantifying snow-related risks. After all, the large majority of New Zealand’s population and infrastructure reside closer to the coast than the mountains. And so we’d like … Read More
Waiology • Nov 24, 2011 •
By Daniel Collins For those of you who don’t receive New Zealand’s own hydrology journal, or for those who want to save some time, here’s an overview of this month’s edition — the journal’s 100th. 1. Barry Fahey (Landcare Research) et al. use their water balance model, WATYIELD, to assess whether tussock in Otago’s uplands can really intercept … Read More
Waiology • Oct 25, 2011 •
Guest post by Dr Tim Kerr (post-doctoral fellow funded by the Ministry of Science and Innovation, and hosted by NIWA) Back in June, Daniel described New Zealand’s rain as coming mainly from the plains mountains. In the South Island, that generally means the Southern Alps. One of science’s tasks is to refine our understanding of where, why and … Read More