On average, July is the coldest and wettest month of the
year here in Hamilton – it is our main month of winter.
New Zealand is broadly classed as having a Maritime Climate
in a Temperate Zone. The maritime part
is because our long skinny country sits between the Pacific Ocean and the
Tasman Sea, and we are Temperate because we are situated just below the Tropic
of Capricorn.
In reality, our weather ranges from near sub-tropical in the
far north to near sub-Antarctic in the far south. It means almost anything can be grown in New
Zealand.
Hamilton is an inland city, no more than an hour from the
coast, and situated in a large relatively open area of country. It generally experiences high humidity, warm
summers, cool wet winters, and occasional frosts and very rare light snowfalls.
We are surrounded by peat swamps, have a lake in the middle
of the city, and the Waikato River flows through our heart. All that moisture
combines together and gives us about 92 nights of thick fog each year, crowning
us with the title of Foggiest City in New Zealand. Sometimes the fog will last all day, or roll
back mid-afternoon only to return again by the evening.
An average July will bring Hamilton around 120mm (about 5
inches) of rain, give us 90% humidity, a fair amount of strong wind and some
heavy frosts. Being more sheltered, we don’t receive the
gales that coastal areas do – giving us another national title: City with the
lowest average wind speed.
However, the lack of gale-force winds doesn’t stop the odd
tornado coming through – not as severe as other places around the world, but we
do carry the dubious title of being home to the most severe tornadoes in all of
Australasia (that was something I didn’t know before!).
The last time we had any appreciable amount of snow here in
Hamilton (not in the mountains or further south) was in 2014. It caused a lot of excitement and put
pressure on our electricity consumption, but not much else.
Hamilton’s average high temperature in July is about 14
degrees Celsius (57 deg.F), with a low of around 4 degrees Celsius (39 deg.F). Sunshine, which occasionally peeks through
between grey dreary days, averages 4 hours a day.
Thunderstorms can occur at any time of the year, and give
Hamilton yet another title: the most thundery city in New Zealand (there are
other areas that experience more, this is just cities).
We don’t call our wet winter the Rainy Season as we receive
rain all year round – it is just a bit more frequent and a lot colder at this
time of year.
Today, the first day of July, the day dawned cloudy with a
red sunrise. Now, this afternoon, there is
a stiff wind blowing, lots of clouds in the sky, and occasional bursts of
sunshine. There is a small chance of
rain tonight, but tomorrow is meant to be much the same as today.
Hope your day is a good one 😊
Margaret.
HEADER PHOTO FOR JULY 2022
Broadgreen House is situated in Stoke, near Nelson. It was built of cob (a mix of straw, sandy
soil and small gravel) in 1855, and is now used as a museum to showcase family
life in the Victorian and Edwardian eras.
The site is also home to the Samuels Rose Garden.
Fog used to be my least favorite weather type - particularly at sea. However after 4 years in Greece I'd pay a small ransom for the feel of fog, the silence of fog, the peacefulness that is fog. Remarkably in the English Channel dense fog can come with a stiff breeze and we have sailed from Plymouth to North Foreland (on the north Kent coast) in fog the whole way. About 48 hous. It was scary. You can hear ships, you can even smell their exhaust fumes trapped in the fog, but you never see them. We have also sailed in fog so dense we couldn't see the top of the mast, and only some hours later realized the masthead was above the fog layer. Someone hoisted aloft could in fact have been in sunlight and been able to see ships and other yachts' madtheads! I was going to ask about the house...it's beautiful and i must put a visit on my 'going home' list.
ReplyDeleteFog like that sounds horrific. Just thinking about it frightens me.
DeleteI looked at your header and thought, you home is bigger than I thought. We are coming into our warmest months, July and August, I love the long summer days.
ReplyDeleteI love these old homes but they must have been very hard to keep warm in winter. I like our little place that warms up with one fire.
DeleteThat was a very interesting post. I didn't realise you got so much for and tornados and snow.
ReplyDeleteI love the river and the lake. Still have wonderful memories of both
Wow, what a lot of weather you get. Although not sure I like the sound of that fog.
ReplyDeleteThat is a beautiful header photo Margaret - I didn't know cob houses could be so ornate.
ReplyDeleteYou certainly have some foggy days, and hold a few weather titles for one city. We get at least a flurry of snow once every 4-5 years - it must have been about 2014 when we had enough snow to sit on the ground for an hour or so.
Our frost tally is greater than yours, and they can get down to -6oC, and can come on consecutive days for up to 10 days.
Blessings
Maxine
We lived on a farm near Tokoroa for nearly a year and I remember in winter that the ground never thawed out all winter. It was so cold!
DeleteThank you for the weather bulletin, most interesting. Your typical July day is what we have just experienced over the last few days and I’m in south-west UK!
ReplyDeleteThat degree of thick dense fog sounds downright unpleasant. I would seriously think of moving if I lived there.
ReplyDeleteGreat new pic and it sounds like you live in a wonderful climate!
ReplyDeleteMay sound odd, but I miss fog. I often stopped the car for a fog-pic on the way to work.
I do believe I would like your winters. Wet, cool and little snow! Perfect!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for your caring comment!!!!
ReplyDeleteGorrrrrrgeous Header!!!!
Interesting facts about where you live!
I'd say, the best hair to have there, is curly. And short. So no matter how much humidity, it is always HAPPY hair. -smile- So I would have a permanent, every 3 months, and revel in my short curls!
That is me! I know, not all would agree. -smile-
🌸🌷🌺🌹🌺🌷🌸
Thanks for explaining about your climate. The long ,dreary ,wet winters are much like ours except we usually get a week or more of snow and frigid temps.
ReplyDeleteThat old house is beautiful. How I'd love to see the inside!
Decades ago, I lived in The Waikato. I still long for those beautiful misty mornings.
ReplyDeleteI can deal with everything you mentioned except the humidity. Ugh! We do like snow though, that we would miss!
ReplyDeleteWhat a fascinating post, thank you so much for sharing. Temperatures are all relative aren't they like a commenter above 14 degrees C is what parts of the UK expect in July too but we are nearing the height of summer! I am not sure I could live in such a foggy place, beautiful as it can be I find it rather suffocating.
ReplyDeleteSo interesting to learn more about your winter. It sounds tiring with all the fog and humidity. I grew up on an island and the lighthouses by the coast had foghorns . Each light house had their special signal so the ships could know where they were. I remember I often went to sleep to the sound of foghorn when I was a child. It was an relaxing sound! The hosue in the header is beautiful.
ReplyDelete