Taranaki has kept its place as the sunniest region in the country as autumn weather conditions brought a mix of clear skies, cooler than average temperatures and varied amounts of rainfall.
Mike Watson13:27, May 25 2021
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New Plymouth Astronomical Society president Leith Roberston took a photograph of the last total eclipse clearly seen from New Plymouth on January 31 2018, shortly before cloud cover obscured the view.
Taranaki residents will have the chance to spot the first appearance of a super blood moon in 39 years late on Wednesday night. But they will need to be ready as the rare phenomenon will only last for 14 minutes. The region is among a number of areas in the country – mainly on the west coast of both islands – where clear skies are forecast. A super blood moon occurs only when three factors are in combination: a full moon, the Moon being closest to the Earth in its orbit (known as perigee), and there is a total lunar eclipse, National Institute for Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) meteorologist Ben Noll said.
“That doesn’t mean there won’t be snow, there could well be a weather system that dumps a lot just before the school holidays, and that’s what people end up remembering.” However, Noll said South Canterbury’s long range outlook leading to the end of July was for average to above-average temperatures, and average to below-average rainfall. “That’s not to say there won’t be cold snaps, but they’re likely to be short-lived,” he said. Skifield operators spoken to by
Stuff were largely optimistic about the coming season.
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George Empson s image, from Wednesday, of the first 2021 snow in the Mackenzie.
“Get in touch with your consultants, or Rural Support Trusts, if you need their assistance,” he said. He said he had spoken to farmers and there was some early concern about how dry it had got of late. But there s not much we can do at the moment other than ride it out. Last week, Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor announced an extra $900,000 of funding will be used to help farmers around the country, with the current large-scale adverse event classification expanded to include Mid-Canterbury, South Canterbury, and Otago.
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Lake Tekapo s levels are now well below average.
It shows Auckland’s character via facts and figures – for example, the fact that 36 percent of New Zealand’s population, and 64 percent of the country’s total Pacific population, lives in Auckland. It also shows 40 percent of Tāmaki Makaurau residents were born overseas, with the majority coming from northeast, southern, and central Asia, the Pacific Islands, and northeastern Europe.
Abigail Dougherty/Stuff
Living City: Rarau mai is just one part of the Auckland War Memorial’s wider exhibition, Tāmaki Herenga Waka: Stories of Auckland. Living City: Rarau mai sits in a hushed corner away from the hubbub of the main gallery space. It is a darkened room, kept alight purely by nuggets of information: Bright blips, graphs, names and numbers that beam from the floor and the floor-to-ceiling screens.