Science Centres: Climate
June
May's climate
Global setting and climate outlook
Feature article
Samoa keeps a wary eye on the sea
Average maximum hourly sea level relative to mean sea level for Apia.
Much of the population of Samoa lives on low lying coastal areas, and is vulnerable to extreme high tides, storm surges, and other coastal hazards.
A Climate Risk Profile (CRP, see reference) prepared for Samoa in 2007 describes a number of present and future climate risks to Samoa, among which are:
an observed average sea level rise of 5.2 mm/year, and
an observed average maximum hourly sea level rising ata rate of 8.2 mm/year.
The adjacent figure, taken from the CRP report, shows avera
A monthly newsletter from the National Climate Centre.
June 2008 – Number 108
May climate –very cold in inland areas of both islands especially at night; record low rainfall in central New Zealand and Tekapo. Low stream flows over most of the country.
Outlook for June to August – air temperatures are likely to be above average in the North Island, average or above in the north of the South Island, and near average elsewhere.
New Zealand climate in May
Rainfall (click to enlarge).
Temperature (click to enlarge).
During May, inland areas of much of New Zealand were very cold, especially at night. The national average temperature at 9.6 °C was 1.1 °C below average.
Record low rainfalls were recorded in Kapiti, Nelson and Marlborough, and the Tekapo basin; parts of Gisborne and Hawke’s Bay recorded twice the normal May rainfall.
Global setting and climate outlook
La Niña weakening
Difference from average global SST (click to enlarge).
Monthly SOI values (click to enlarge).
La Niña conditions have continued to weaken during May, and overall the tropical Pacific ENSO indicators are close to neutral, although some remnants of La Niña persist. A positive subsurface temperature anomaly persists west of the Date Line, and a new positive anomaly has developed near South America above 100 m. The SOI eased further in May and became slightly negative at –0.5, with a 3-month March to May mean of +0.4.
