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Imaggeo on Mondays: Nor’Wester in the Southern Alps of New Zealand

Imaggeo on Mondays: Nor’Wester in the Southern Alps of New Zealand

Stephan Winkler’s 2017 Imaggeo Photo Contest finalist photo showcases an unusual weather phenomenon…

The image shows a typical weather situation in the Southern Alps of New Zealand with a moist, westerly airflow pushing over the Main Divide [which separates the water catchments of the more heavily populated eastern side of the island from those on the west coast] to create a typical foehn wind [dry and warm winds which form on the downside of a mountain range] pattern (locally called Nor’Wester) in the region. Immediately west of this Main Divide, annual precipitation of up to 15,000 mm has been estimated.

The upper part of Tasman Glacier, as other glaciers around and immediately east of the Main Divide, receive impressive amounts of snow due to an overspill effect and can still be regarded as maritime.

In the image, however, the situation is displayed when right at the Main Divide the clouds disappear due to increasing temperatures when flowing over the Divide. The foehn wind developing with such weather pattern can be very strong. However, the image nicely shows how the glaciation of the central Southern Alps is influence by the availability of moisture and the dynamic character of the regional climate.

Description by Stephan Winkler (Senior Lecturer in Quaternary Geology and Palaeoclimatology at the University of Canterbury), as published previously on imaggeo.egu.eu

Imaggeo is the EGU’s online open access geosciences image repository. All geoscientists (and others) can submit their photographs and videos to this repository and, since it is open access, these images can be used for free by scientists for their presentations or publications, by educators and the general public, and some images can even be used freely for commercial purposes. Photographers also retain full rights of use, as Imaggeo images are licensed and distributed by the EGU under a Creative Commons licence. Submit your photos at http://imaggeo.egu.eu/upload/.

 

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Laura Roberts Artal is the Outreach and Dissemination Manager at The Water Innovation Hub (University of Sheffield). Laura also volunteers as the Associate Director of Communications for Geology for Global Development. She has also held a role in industry as Marketing Manager for PDS Ava (part of PDS Group). Laura was the Communications Officer at the European Geosciences Union from the summer of 2014 to the end of 2017. Laura is a geologist by training and holds a PhD in palaeomagnetism from the University of Liverpool. She tweets at @LauRob85.


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