Kristin Savage

What follows are some bits of knowledge about Welly weather i’ve gained having been surfing here and in the Wairarapa since 1991.

• There’ll be more blue sky in a southerly but it will be colder.

• Some Northwesters are just as cold as southerlies coz the isobars stretch from Antartica (as they do in a southerly) and kink northwest through the cook strait, e.g. they’re southerlies with a NW direction.

• Wellington has the most sunshine hours out of all the major centres in NZ. Most people find this hard to believe and this is probably because the wind blows its heat away.

• A calm (no wind) patch is usually the interval between the Norwester and the Southerly (or vice versa).

• The predominant wind is Northerly.

• An Easterly is Wellingtons’ version of the famous Christchurch Norwester (blows over hills and valleys warming up before arriving).

• Easterlies are very very rare. Usually only 5-10 days per year.

• Something a few of us call ‘the toilet bowl’ effect is when Wellington has low grey murky cloud and a stiff wind, but if you look out past the Wellington Heads you’ll see the cloud end. If on one of these days you venture over the Rimutakas, you’ll find the Wairarapa soaked in sunshine, blue sky and light winds.

• The ‘reverse toilet bowl’ effect is the opposite, but this is much more rare.

• Alot of the strong winds Wellington get end at Pukerua bay. The Cook Strait being a wind funnel.

• If it’s sunny and you want to go to the beach there’ll usually still be some wind to avoid. For a sheltered beach in a southerly go to Oriental Bay. In a northerly go to Scorching Bay.

• Good weather is the exception to the rule and usually means the rest of the country has bad weather. To test this theory, next time it’s fine here call your ‘out of town’ mates and listen as they tell stories of how bad the weather has been.

Thankfully Wellington doesn’t have to rely on its weather to be a great place!