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Thread: Cyclone/Tornado In NZ

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Aug 2012
    Location
    Wellington NZ
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    5

    Default Cyclone/Tornado In NZ

    Recent news about typhoon in Taiwan and Japan, and hurricane Isaac in US got me thinking, is NZ cyclone/ tornado prone?
    I frequently hear news about US hurricanes and east Asia's typhoons, which happens every year around Aug-Oct period, but I never really heard news about cyclones in NZ. Tried to google it, but I could only find some reference to cyclones happening years back, which looks like more of freak incident than yearly occurrence.
    Is cyclone a big problem in NZ? Which areas are cyclone prone? And do we need to be concerned about building cyclone preparedness when looking for place to rent/buy?

    I hope those who live in NZcan shed some lights on this

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jun 2010
    Location
    Ōtepoti, Aotearoa
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    Cyclones don't really play a role here in NZ. Check http://www.geonet.org.nz/index.html where information on our natural hazards is provided: There is no catecorie for it.

    It is the same in our NZ for structural design: We don't need to rake cyclones into account whereas Australia (they use the same standard) have to consider this in most of their regions.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jan 2012
    Location
    Yorkshire, UK - Wellington, NZ
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    189

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    I think we've got enough on our (tectonic) plates to worry about, without throwing that into the mix..!

    It's not something I've heard happening here, just the odd water spout spectacle.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Feb 2009
    Location
    Auckland
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    3,697

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    Don't worry about tornado, typhoon or hurricane for time being, the closest it has got is......

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Location
    Auckland, New Zealand
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    181

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    I've always wondered about this too. Coming from tropical country in east Asia, we have about 15-20 cyclones (we call it typhoons) per year, if you look in the weather map, you'll see something like the one below which I've never seen in my several months here in NZ.



    I'm no weatherman but I'm amazed at how different the weather patterns here in this side of the world...

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Dec 2009
    Location
    NB Canada to Dargaville, NZ
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    241

    Default

    Here's a bottoms-up view of known tropical storms and hurricanes dating back to 1851. - http://uxblog.idvsolutions.com/2012/...ince-1851.html



    Vs Earth Quakes


    To view higher res of these 2 above photo's -

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/idvsolu...n/photostream/

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/idvsolu...n/photostream/

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Sep 2004
    Location
    Auckland
    Posts
    412

    Default

    In the 40 years I have been in NZ I have never experienced a typhoon, I think they are limited to the tropical areas of the earth.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    May 2012
    Location
    NZ (Auckland; via Canada)
    Posts
    1,350

    Default

    The remnants of tropical cyclones do impact NZ from time to time as strong gales, but you don't get the larger surge and wind features of a proper tropical cyclone. They can do damage, especially in terms of rainfall and associated flooding. But nothing like is seen in the US, Australia, Asia or the Caribbean.

    There are tornados each year, but very few and usually very weak (F0 or F1). They can do damage, but rarely of the scale that storms in the US or Canada or even Europe produce.

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