Central Plateau, North Island

Central Plateau, North Island
View from a friend's farm

Sunday 15 March 2015

Weather, yesterday, today ,and tomorrow.

 

Thanks to all who have asked if we will be in the path of Cyclone Pam. We live in the lower North Island, closer to the middle, and far away from the East Coast, where the tail end is expected to  cause heavy rain, flooding, large seas  and  severe gales .  TVNZ news has posted videos and photos of the devastation, and our thoughts are with all those in  Vanuatu, and other areas. Photos courtesy  of the Internet.

We live where the little black dots , diamonds   are, to the   right of the words.Most of the area from Gisborne then south is where the expected rain and wind will  cause many problems.

v

Cyclone Pam  expected path

This was the heading on New Zealand’s Metservice page, and it went straight to a video, there is also a blog, with updates and more videos.

Metservice NZ

The rain radar map for Sunday  15th, 7 p.m. shows the heaviest will be north of us.

Rain Radar 7 p.m. Sunday 15th March

 

Infrared Satellite image, taken at 3.44 a.m. Saturday 14th March

 

Courtesy of the Internet……  ( this was  Saturday a.m.)

The above image is an infrared satellite picture of TC Pam taken at 3.44am this morning. Infrared images are colour coded to show the temperature of the cloud tops, which may extend high up into the atmosphere. The eye of the tropical cyclone is the light coloured dot in the middle surrounded by the dark blue (cloud tops of about -82C). What this image shows is the intensely cold cloud tops of thunderstorms surrounding the relatively warm eye of the tropical cyclone. This temperature contrast is one of the ways forecasters can estimate the intensity of a tropical cyclone from satellite imagery.

Category 5 Cyclone satellite imagery 

Update on Sunday 15th March. Courtesy of the internet….. referring to the image below…

(refer to yesterday’s 5am blog update for a comparison). The green colour indicates the cloud top temperature of the thunderstorms surrounding the eye is about -65C, while this time yesterday they were -82C, suggesting that the cyclone has weakened. However, winds near the centre are still estimated to be over 200 km/h.

TC Pam, Infrared satellite image, 3.44 a.m. Sunday 15th

Quotation of the day, author unknown,

“ Real and true friendship doesn’t need daily  conversation or closeness, it will live in your heart no matter where you are”

Greetings from Jean

12 comments:

Carol Mattingly said...

Stay safe Jean. I didn't realize til your post there was a cyclone out there in the ocean in your area. Hopefully you are right and most of the rain will be in the direction you indicated. Carol

TexWisGirl said...

weakened or not, i am certain that many will struggling with the effects of this powerful storm! i am glad you are safe!

Jenn Jilks said...

It's been quite a time for storms. I think we could do with a few good rains, not storms. Stay safe, my friend. Hugs xx

FlowerLady Lorraine said...

Dear Jean ~ I hope the bad weather stays away from you. I really feel for those who have lost so much from this terrible storm.

FlowerLady

Leeanne said...

It is starting to build here in the north. I see the neighbours getting in all their stuff off the deck.

KB said...

I am very glad that you are safe. I bet that you'll get some unsettled weather but I'm glad that you're not in the dangerous areas.

Michells Place said...

I am now luckily living in the central North Island between Turangi and Taumaranui. I moved from Gisborne in November and am glad I am not there now. Hoping it turns into a tropical storm and not much comes out of it, but you never know. Cyclone Bola wasn't suppose to mount to anything and it sat over the East Coast for 3 days causing havoc. Friends are on standby to be called into work at the hospital. All the time I worked there that never happened so they are prepared

Allie said...

I saw some news reports about the devastation in Vanuatu, so horrific - they said it was a Cat 5 storm, so the strongest on the scale. Praying for all those in the path of this storm.

Georgia said...

Weather forecasting has gotten so much more sophisticated in recent times, but this kind of storm still has a streak of unpredictability. It looks like it is steering clear of your nest this time. I'm glad, G

Linda said...

I didn't realize about the cyclone, either, Jean, until I saw this post. Stay safe, dear friend.

fromsophiesview said...

This cyclone is scaring me so I can just imagine how you are feeling. We have friends Auckland and I know they are hunkering down tight.

Please take care!
Ron

Jim said...

THAT is one big storm!
Good that you are safely away from the 'eye' of that one!
Thanks for sharing this with us, Jean. You would make a wonderful meteorologist!