For the last five days, the Dominion Post has been regaling us with the delights of the elusive Wellington Summer. Since the beginning of December the East Coast of of the North Island of New Zealand has been buffeted by winds while the West Coast has been subjected to torrential rain. Wellington, being at the southernmost extremity of the North Island, has copped the lot.
This is not to say that we have not had days with sunshine. In fact, the sun is shining right now. And we should be thankful that this morning’s gale force nor-westers have abated to a more sedate 20-30 knots, only occasionally gusting to 55. Windburn is so much more healthier than sunburn, at least there’s no risk of skin cancer.
We went for a family bike ride along the Hutt River Trail on January the 1st. Heading south, we set a cracking pace that any self-respecting motorcross rider would be hard pressed to beat. Coming back, however, was a different story – a long, slow drag at walking speed. In fact I’m sure that we did end up walking part of the way. We then went out to a family picnic in ‘sub-tropical’ Upper Hutt. We huddled low to the ground to keep out of the wind. My sunburn still stings (no kidding)...
This, we have just been informed by the experts in the Met Office, is an ‘El Nino’ summer.
The majority of New Zealanders first heard of the ‘El Nino’ effect on the Southern Oscillation in the early eighties. Apparently warmer-than-normal ocean water off the Columbian, Ecuadorian and Peruvian coasts of South America and cooling ocean water around Indonesia and the Indian Ocean means that New Zealanders can realistically forget about summer this year. No camping this summer holidays, no barbecues on the beach – that’s it. The effect that ‘El Nino’ has on the New Zealand weather pattern means that it’s wetter than normal to the north of the country, drier than normal in the east, and as for the south and west, forget it. Oh, and then there's the wind (did I mention the wind?).
‘El Nino’ is apparently a Hispanic expression that means ‘Christ Child’. This name is applied to the Southern Oscillation because the onset of this climactic event is normally around Christmas time. The counterpoint of ‘El Nino’ is the much more agreeable ‘La Nina’, which we can expect in three or four summers time. Or not.
And there was I thinking that they would blame it on global warming...
