Coping with the weather in an island state

OPINION: Although we don’t think of it that way necessarily, New Zealand is an island state – like the islands of the Pacific but just a bit bigger.  And like all island states our weather is dictated by the sea that surrounds us – that is particularly true of the West because that is where most of the weather comes from, and a lot of it is wet!!  But beware also of the South where Antarctica and bitter conditions lurk, particularly during the winter.

Of course, the worst rainfall is on the West Coast of the South Island down into Fiordland but sometimes Wellington is not too far behind.  Looking out the window at present the rain is bucketing down and gale force winds are battering the building.

However, only 2 days ago it was warm and we were baking in sunshine – and hopefully the same will be true toward the end of this week, or at least by the weekend.  The most charitable thing you can say is that at least it makes the weather interesting.  There are parts of the world where the weather is almost invariant (and pretty boring) the whole year around.

The variability is why New Zealanders tend to talk about the weather so much.  In fact, I think statistics show that it’s rating as a topic for conversation is one of the highest in the world.

Its unpredictability also makes weather forecasting a highly risky business – particularly on timing.  But then timing is everything when it comes to the weather.  Anyone can predict that it will in due course be dry and warm – but the question of exactly when is very hard!  But the forecasters still hold a fascination for us, even if we think they are wrong.  We are now at the stage where segments on the weather come up 3 separate times on each hour of TV news in the evening.

It is interesting how people adapt to a climate that can offer such extremes.  Our houses are generally constructed to cope with the extremes (how often have you read about high rates of damage overseas in the face of what you would call above average Wellington gale which we would largely ignore).  Most Wellingtonians are also not too far from a waterproof coat when they are outdoors and away from home – however, umbrellas are more difficult to spot.  Three are probably more umbrellas that have been blown inside out in Wellington than most places in the world.

The saving grace in this is that when the weather is good – not only do we appreciate it more because of the bad stuff, but it transforms Wellington into one of the most beautiful locations in  New Zealand if not the world.

But that is not going to happen today.  Looking out the window I think that the weather is worse that when I began to write this article.

Oh well!

Start a discussion on this topic…

This is another of Bas Walker’s posts on GrownUps.  Please look out for his articles, containing his Beachside Ponderings.