It has been just 2.5 months since the carbon Emissions Trading Scheme kicked in for New Zealand. I’m sure if they give it a little more time, spring snows like this one will be “a thing of the past“.
WRECKED: The Wrens building in Yarrow St, Invercargill, shortly after the roof collapsed because of heavy snow
City store in ruins after roof collapses | Stuff.co.nz
A central Invercargill street was cordoned off yesterday after the roof of decorating business Wrens collapsed under the weight of heavy snow.
The building was one of at least four that caved in following significant snow on Saturday and yesterday.
But wait, there’s more:
City snowfall biggest in 50 years? | Stuff.co.nz
A Southland weather expert says the weekend’s snowfall could be the heaviest in Invercargill for 50 years.
‘Winter in spring disaster’ | Stuff.co.nz
Southern farmers will need to wait for snow to clear to assess their losses from the impact of the southerly storm that hit during the middle of lambing.
Federated Farmers board member David Rose, who farms at Oporo near Wallacetown, said while much of the snow had melted yesterday, the night before had been shocking, with blizzard conditions.
“Winter in winter is OK but winter in spring is a bit of a disaster.”
Heavy snow destroys $100k glasshouse in city | Stuff.co.nz
Heavy snow destroyed his $100,000 glasshouse at the weekend at Eldon Gardens, with the panes and shards of glass smashing down on to about 2000 young tomato plants.
Thanks to Tom Nelson for gathering links.
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The IPGCD (Intergovernmental Panel on Global Climate Disruption) will soon sort this lot out. Then the climate will never change, ever again.
NZ government using global warming taxes to help out farmers hit by the cold…
Why am I reminded of all those journalists at Copenhagen waiting in the freezing cold for half a day to listen to speeches about global warming?
Tis only weatherI suppose … until the summer anyway.
Strange that there is so little news of the cold weather on our TV nor in the press. There was plenty about the earthquake as there should be. Then there was bugger all about the cold winter in South America. I suppose cold doesn’t cut it like warm does when you want to promote a disaster.
Now what if CO2 when it exceeds 380 has such negative feedback that it can TIP the world into a deep freeze. I’m sure some of the warmers at the CSIRO will be working on that. BoM will have to adjust and homogenise to show unprecedented cooling. Mann will find some more pines and Keith can go back to Yamal. A brand new gravy train. Al will have a film about Polar Bears starving cause they are snowed in.
Jimmy Haigh says:
September 20, 2010 at 1:50 am
So far north of where? The Antarctic perhaps. Due to its maritime climate any snow in Invercargil is an unusual event let alone during spring. Interestingly 6 months ago our Lunar Weather Man Ken Ring predicted wild stormy and unusually cold weather in NZ between now and into our summer. Could be wrong but don’t recall the NZ Met Service with all their hi-tech computer climate models making any such weather predictions. However a couple of days ago they did manage to predict that we would be hit by one of the largest storm systems ever recorded. Perhaps they got that bit right.
With reference to the tomato plants, see what happens when climate reality meets the greenhouse effect?
The forecast for tomorrow, more climate disruption on the Southland.
To the owners of the building: It’s yer own dang fault! What were you thinking about when you painted the building black? Don’t you know anything about albedo? Well, mother earth sure does. And for your callous insistence on contributing to Global Climate Disruption (can we start calling it GCD yet?), she’s payin’ you back. Haven’t you been listening to his lordship Steven Chu? Serves you right. If only you had painted the building white, you would have been OK. Remember that next time! /sarc off
No better way to cool the heels of a hysterical AGWer (GCDer?) than a bit of snow.
@Ian Cooper at 3:53am
Strangely, not all counties recognise their seasons in the same way as the US and UK which I believe use the solstices and equinoxes to define a season change. Australia, NZ and South Africa all use the first day of September to denote Spring. December 1 defines Summer etc.
So when the media, government or the normal citizens of these countries say that something happens in Spring they mean the period between 1 September and 30 November. Clearly all comparisons of weather phenomena also use these dates.
Some Asian countries define spring as a 3 month period with the vernal equinox as the middle day. As with so many things … it all depends on the culture.
IMHO the SI of NZ (in ETS land) experienced an inverted GCD event at 10:30 NZST that surprised the NZMS and the IPCC. A commentator in ESP said GCD events could be eliminated PDQ by enforcing TLMs (Three Letter Mnemonics) on all NGOs. Accordingly, it is suggested that this blog is re-titled WWT (Watts With That) to reduce AGW (Alphabetic Growth of Words).
PS
Does anybody know the whereabouts of Glenis Mavis McQueen originally from Invercargill who travelled around South America in the Aardvark bus many years ago?
Would have been slippery roads for Burt Munro…(World’s fastest Indian [MC])…
Can you make decent paint from RINOs?
So now that their hoax has spectacular exploded, we move to Global Climate Change Disruption hoax. Seems a whole lot like what the NAZIs were doing with their perfect man.
They will end as the people of Eastern Island building up Moais to remember their master’s image watching over the rising waters of the pacific seas.
Green nut-seeseem!
Actually, it’s international. GISS & UAH follow this convention too. According to meteorologists & climatologists worldwide, “Meteorological spring” begins on Sept. 1, “Meteorological winter” begins on Dec. 1, etc. This way the coldest three months are in the “winter” and the warmest three months are in the “summer.”
Extra rain could result from global warming. Or maybe extra drought. And dandruff. And hangnails. Extra snow? Hahahahahaha! Nice try, though.
So what else is new? Last February I had to go up on my roof in -29 degrees centigrade and start shoveling because the roof beams were creaking. Several roofs in the neighborhood did collapse.
This happened in southern Sweden during the “warmest year ever”. And Sweden has building codes that are supposed to make this sort of thing impossible.
Moon at maximum South declinational culmination, on the 15th peak of severe/extreme weather expected for next three days, would be the default forecast.
So what was so unexpected? With the conjunction of Jupiter Uranus Earth this upcoming week, extra special double plus good energy content is to be expected as usual.
Both of the outer planets are South of the ecliptic plane, adding energy balance to the southern hemisphere, as it will be in the higher ion content of the solar wind currents as they pass by.
http://space.jpl.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/wspace?tbody=399&vbody=10&month=9&day=20&year=2010&hour=12&minute=00&fovmul=1&rfov=5&bfov=30&porbs=1&brite=1&showsc=1
http://sdowww.lmsal.com/sdomedia/SunInTime/2010/09/20/f_HMImag_171.jpg
Sourcing or Responding?
Huth says:
September 20, 2010 at 4:11 am
Sounds like construction regs need to be updated so that buildings can withstand heavy snow on their roofs. Japan is doing pretty well against earthquakes;
Of course! Their buildings are designed to withstand attacks from giant monsters and robots – what more could you expect?
Snow on the hills around Dunedin and more forecast.
The last time we had so much snow so late was in the early 1980s. October 1 is the opening of the fishing season and I couldn’t get to my favourite spot because of deep drifts. It snowed briefly on Christmas Day in 1975.
From memory, the Met Service forecast a milder than usual Spring this year.
psilent (6.17a.m.) and Roger Knights (10.04a.m.)
I am aware that there is such a thing as the “Meterorological Seasons,” that conveniently start at the expedient begining of the aforementioned months. As has been pointed out, politicians have taken to making this convenience official (expediency is their middle name after all), on the advice of meteorologists. No offence to Anthony and all other meteorologists, but it is not their job to tell us when the seasons start or end. Their job is to predict how the seasons may go, and report back on how they went.
The fact that we have seasons is nothing to do with weather, or climate, and everything to do with astronomical factors. Since time was first measured (by an astronomer of course) it has been the job of astronomers to tell the authorities when the seasons begin. Perhaps with so many bigger fish to fry these days the astronomers have dropped the ball and some of the latter day scientists have picked up the job in stead? The fact that our calendar is out of whack with the seasons is just too hard a sell for some so a compromise was deemed necessary. Although for the life of me I can’t think why anyone in New Zealand would consider December a summer month ahead of March!
Purakanui
I remember that Christmas snowfall in 1975. It was visible the next day on Wharite Peak near the Manawatu Gorge. Muldoon had just come to power the month before and as far as we were concerned it was ALL his fault!
Cheers
Coops
New Zealanders you have my sympathy.
Thank God for the farsighted left, socialists and the radical Eco- greens. New Zealand will be saved by the mighty ETS, insulating the poor overtaxed people from the oppressions of Global Climate Disruption.
Maybe you can just keep it there in New Zealand and possibly Australia as an example of voter and government insanity on how too destroy economy’s with taxes.
Get ready for a cooling global climate curtsy of Global Climate Disruption or as we like to say weather as usual.
I would suggest a wonderful climate /weather tool that is simple read:
The infallible Weather rock @ur momisugly
http://www.usscouts.org/profbvr/weather_rock/
or
http://www.txroadrunners.com/images/pics/Funny6/WeatherRock.jpg
Send one to your PM and government members.
Seattle had a snowfall with similar damage about 15 or so years ago. Many roofs collapsed; apartment carport, and marina roofs included smashing everything they landed on. It wasn’t that the snowfall total’s were huge (they weren’t), but it was VERY WET snow. Very wet snow gives a much higher snow weight load for volume than dry snow, or even “average” snow.
I’d think this was also a wet snow.
I note that the collapsed structures appear to be either young (the stadium is 10 years old) or cheap and lightly built (greenhouses etc.).
I don’t know how rare snow in Invercargill is, but it is next to a large expanse of the Southern Ocean, and the minimum temperatures are often quite close to those in Auckland (some 9 degrees or so further north).
In 1992 there was a 2 metre snowfall in Queenstown at a similar time of year (best skiing I’ve ever had in NZ, in October, on my first visit). A lot of new born lambs died across the south of the South Island. So I don’t think there’s much that’s exceptional about the snowfall, perhaps just the damage to some roofed structures in Invercargill.
In Queenstown, the old timers have been saying for 2 or 3 winters that the climate is reverting to its familiar pattern of 30+ years ago, with colder winters).
All the best.