Storm

Most of the country has had pretty haphazard winter weather this week. We had 3 storms come in over a 24 hour period. The above photo was taken earlier this week at the town square.

I was surprised to see small flakes of hail coming down for a couple of hours not just over our property but over most of the town.

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Tornado!

Taken out my lounge window morning after the storm

Earlier this week we had a forecast of heavy rain which we did end up having overnight but we also had hail and a bit of wind but apparently several businesses in town were struck by a mini tornado where roofs were ripped off and power went out. We are fortunate we are 5 minutes out of town and considered to be semi-rural so we seem to get away with most of the bad stuff. Lately it's started to get a bit more chilly in the mornings. Today is the start of the Autumn Equinox and we are starting to see the colours changing on the trees. This morning I actually put the fire on as it was 6 degrees celsius when I got up to let the cats out - I think we might have a really nippy winter this year.

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Windsurfers out and about after the storm

Sunday gone eager to get out and about after 2-3 days of rain we drove around and ended up stopping down by Sulphur Point which is near the Port of Tauranga. With quite a bit of wind still in the air we watched these windsurfers in the shallows. The guy walking out of the water looked like he was teaching the girl on the board what to do.  I like days like this as you get to see people making the most of the outdoors after being stuck inside - lots of action!.

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Billows of early morning smoke clouds

Last week we had some spectacular colours in the sky above my house, this one I think looks like billows of smoke in the sky. In the change of seasons at the moment - from summer to autumn it's much cooler here and very welcome I must say. Is it the calm before the storm? who knows - this weekend we have Cyclone Pam forecast so we're expecting lots of rain and wind. It's still so dry here, farmers will be pleased to have some irrigation for the brown parched grass I see to and from my travels to work.

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Skywatch Friday - Early Morning Stormy Orange Skies

Recently I bought a camera from one of my besties and this was one of the first photos I snapped from the deck outside my lounge. I knew it was going to be a stormy rainy Spring day and it was judging from the orange sunrise and grey clouds.

And yes I finally have my cast off - yay!

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Winter is here but there's still plenty of colour!

Another storm swept through here over the weekend swamping already soggy regions around Northland. Seems we got a respite Sunday morning because I was able to get out for a walk to the surf beach. On the way it was nice to see some colour in the form of this pink heather in someone's garden.

This one is Mangawhai estuary viewed from Wintle Street - stormy skies still but the water looking much calmer than it probably had been the night before. Think we definitely need some sun to dry out the land here.

Calm after the storm - love these gray skies and damp days of winter

So, here are our skies here in Mangawhai today - calm after the storm more like. After 2 days of torrential rain & wind i can quite confidently say that I'm sure our tank has alot more water in it. Not sure if there's more on the way at some point but don't think I'd turn it down. Unfortunately I've been struck down with a mean as flu so I've been stuck in bed trying to get better.

At last a storm here in Mangawhai!

These were the skies outside my house this morning. We've been anxiously awaiting some rain here to fill up the tanks and finally we got some. It wasn't as much as I would've liked but it's better than nothing. I'm hoping to get more tonight!

Stormy colours of Wellsford

This is what a stormy winter's afternoon looks like through the windows of the kitchen at work. Very orange skies tinged with gray & black. If only I'd been at home hibernating - then it would've been perfect!

Colourful mussel shells on the beach after last night's storm

Daughter and I decided to take a walk along the beach this morning after the massive thunder & lightening storm we had last night. See what washed up this morning. Not alot unfortunately but I do like the colours on the broken piece of this Mussel shell.

Emirates Team NZ - Saturday Racing!

Talk about nerve wracking! Watching Emirates Team NZ racing this morning while outside it's windy and raining - storm is here - arggghhhhh!

Blue skies trying to shine through after the storm

We've had a stormy weekend. Here's the view out my window this morning of the sun trying to come through the clouds - Mangawhai Heads - Spring.