Rained last night for about an hour - torrential downpours.
I'm lucky that it's stopped in time for my walk to the railway station this morning. The rain up on the Northern island for the most part has been soft, but last night rain was one of those torrential downpours we're used to in Virginia.
I left plenty early to walk to the bus, but I keep getting turned around trying to use my google maps. I keep losing time. So at this point I'm grateful for giving myself an extra 15 minutes. I've already used at least 8 of that. My bus leaves at 8:15, so I've got plenty of time. Instructions told me to be there by 7:45.
They do not have a complimentary breakfast at the hotel, so I'm hoping to find place on the way.
Second coffee shop I'm passing is closed! There aren't many people on the roads now. Folks here must like to wake up late. 7:30 just doesn't feel early to me, but I'm a weirdo.
Well I still haven't gotten the hang of looking the right direction at cross walks. I've just gotten in the habit of looking both ways at this point because I'm not sure where the cars are coming from.
I see a sign that says open at Anna's coffee & deli. There's a grocery store nearby, so I'm going to see if I can get a coffee and a bagel. If they're not open I'll go to Anna's.
Omg - good coffee! Pick up a scone for breakfast and croissant sandwich for lunch. So hoping I'm set. My only thing is.... I would like more coffee! More coffee! Sorry New Zealand - your coffee is too small and we Americanas are happy with less quality larger coffee @ lower price. But it is REALLY GOOD COFFEE.
Railway station right here, it is 7:47 which means I'm still approximately 1/2 hour early for the train. I need to grab the tickets they've got reserved for me and jump on... I think it might be the one waiting at the moment.
Plenty of time to spare! Though it's so quiet on board that I think everyone can hear my chewing. Travel commentary with the courtesy headphones will be available. Not sure pictures out the windows will be possible unless the raindrops evaporate with speed. It didn't seem to work that way in the airplane.
Announcement “please wear shoes at all times and keep all body parts behind the lines, we want you to leave you to leave with all the body parts you came on with.” Nice!
Train is going to Arthur's Pass today. Which puts it a good deal to the north of LotR's (Lord of the rings will be forever abbreviated from here out) Edoras (Mt Sunday - sets were mostly broken down everywhere, so you can't actually visit sites on location usually - they were frequently in National Heritage sites that needed to be restored & minimally impacted - will see sets @ WETA workshop in Wellington), to the west of Misty Mountains filming.
Gorgeous scenery from the train, but hard to get a good Panorama while it is moving. Amazing Mountains all around - one particularly large snow-peaked mtn in the distance. Passed through Springfield and the main mountain range is through my windows on the left, but also some amazing peaks on the right. Crossing a gorge - can see the river through the slats, but would not pick up on the camera.
Misty Mountains are living up to their names - moisture condensing from the heavy fog all over the train. Going through occasional tunnels.
Today I will be very grateful for my coat. Got it a week ago from Amazon, but had been planning it for a while. Needed something that would be warm, waterproof & collapsed well for packing. Much of my packing plans have been all about minimalizing my luggage
These mountains are magnificent. The condensation of water directly into fog, frost, and dew, combined with precipitation of rain and snow (large snowfall expected next week) means a great deal of runoff from the many many mountains. While the sides of the mountains are covered with trees up to the treeline (above which it is too cold or rocky for tree growth) I can also see a lot of bare ground & rock on the sides of mountains.
WARNING: GETTING NERDY HERE
The high sediment runoff explains the extensive river flood plain. This river valley at the base of the mountains is laced with winding tributaries and marshlands. I can imagine the water level of the river fluctuates greatly depending on precipitation, but duE to altitude there is a constant minimal precipitation - potentially enough to classify it as a temperate rainforest region. The forests of Washington state are classified in this way. Proximity to the ocean puts so much natural moisture into the air, so the high altitudes force condensation. Any evaporation in the valleys is going to be held locally by the mountains, forcing condensation & precipitation before it can be pushed out of mountains by air currents. Generally, the high pressure of cold atmosphere at this altitude will mean the air movement is mostly directed down and out, so little air will be moved across mountains. It would create a rain shadow effect on Eastern New Zealand if it were not for the Island's extensive coastline minimizing the effects of the excessive precipitation in the mountains. Extensive coastline means they'll be getting moisture from EVERY direction.
In Virginia we have similar moisture benefits. The prevailing Westerlies and the dip of the Jet stream from the Great Lakes helps bring us precipitation from the west. Much of this falls in the mountains, but our mountains are much smaller than these, therefore do not trap as much moisture. We do observe a partial rain shadow when we see western cities like Roanoke and Blacksburg getting two feet of snow compared to our 3-6 inches, when the weather system is coming from the west.
Conversely, we often have Low Pressure Systems that also come from the Atlantic on the east, due to Trade Winds and the northward flow of the Jet Stream drawing in the weather systems. When the warm air mass comes from the East we end up with more precipitation (think about the BIG snowfalls) than our fellow Virginians to the west of the mountains.
Climate change has contributed to greater winter precipitation in recent years. More frequent polar cold air masses dipping with the Jet Steam from Canada in winter are due to lower polar freeze. With less ice in the Arctic due to warming ocean & air temperatures, the Polar Gyre (the circling of arctic cold air masses above the expanse of Ocean Ice and Greenland Land Ice [aka Glaciers]) has been disrupted. The disruption of this air mass means it is more likely to get as far south as Virginia and sometimes North Carolina or Georgia.
New Zealand does not face this extreme cold the way we do because it does. Not have the land connection to Antarctica the way Canada connects us to the Arctic. Temperatures stay colder as they move over land, but air masses moving over liquid water will be warmed - even at its coldest unfrozen ocean water does not fall below - 4C. So when the air temperatures in the arctic are frequently below - 20C (sometimes down to - 50C or more) - the ocean water definitely has a warming effect.
I'm lucky that it's stopped in time for my walk to the railway station this morning. The rain up on the Northern island for the most part has been soft, but last night rain was one of those torrential downpours we're used to in Virginia.
I left plenty early to walk to the bus, but I keep getting turned around trying to use my google maps. I keep losing time. So at this point I'm grateful for giving myself an extra 15 minutes. I've already used at least 8 of that. My bus leaves at 8:15, so I've got plenty of time. Instructions told me to be there by 7:45.
They do not have a complimentary breakfast at the hotel, so I'm hoping to find place on the way. Second coffee shop I'm passing is closed! There aren't many people on the roads now. Folks here must like to wake up late. 7:30 just doesn't feel early to me, but I'm a weirdo.
Well I still haven't gotten the hang of looking the right direction at cross walks. I've just gotten in the habit of looking both ways at this point because I'm not sure where the cars are coming from.
I see a sign that says open at Anna's coffee & deli. There's a grocery store nearby, so I'm going to see if I can get a coffee and a bagel. If they're not open I'll go to Anna's. Omg - good coffee! Pick up a scone for breakfast and croissant sandwich for lunch. So hoping I'm set. My only thing is.... I would like more coffee! More coffee! Sorry New Zealand - your coffee is too small and we Americanas are happy with less quality larger coffee @ lower price. But it is REALLY GOOD COFFEE.
Railway station right here, it is 7:47 which means I'm still approximately 1/2 hour early for the train. I need to grab the tickets they've got reserved for me and jump on... I think it might be the one waiting at the moment.
Announcement “please wear shoes at all times and keep all body parts behind the lines, we want you to leave you to leave with all the body parts you came on with.” Nice!
Train is going to Arthur's Pass today. Which puts it a good deal to the north of LotR's (Lord of the rings will be forever abbreviated from here out) Edoras (Mt Sunday - sets were mostly broken down everywhere, so you can't actually visit sites on location usually - they were frequently in National Heritage sites that needed to be restored & minimally impacted - will see sets @ WETA workshop in Wellington), to the west of Misty Mountains filming.
Gorgeous scenery from the train, but hard to get a good Panorama while it is moving. Amazing Mountains all around - one particularly large snow-peaked mtn in the distance. Passed through Springfield and the main mountain range is through my windows on the left, but also some amazing peaks on the right. Crossing a gorge - can see the river through the slats, but would not pick up on the camera.
Misty Mountains are living up to their names - moisture condensing from the heavy fog all over the train. Going through occasional tunnels.
Today I will be very grateful for my coat. Got it a week ago from Amazon, but had been planning it for a while. Needed something that would be warm, waterproof & collapsed well for packing. Much of my packing plans have been all about minimalizing my luggage
These mountains are magnificent. The condensation of water directly into fog, frost, and dew, combined with precipitation of rain and snow (large snowfall expected next week) means a great deal of runoff from the many many mountains. While the sides of the mountains are covered with trees up to the treeline (above which it is too cold or rocky for tree growth) I can also see a lot of bare ground & rock on the sides of mountains.
WARNING: GETTING NERDY HERE
The high sediment runoff explains the extensive river flood plain. This river valley at the base of the mountains is laced with winding tributaries and marshlands. I can imagine the water level of the river fluctuates greatly depending on precipitation, but duE to altitude there is a constant minimal precipitation - potentially enough to classify it as a temperate rainforest region. The forests of Washington state are classified in this way. Proximity to the ocean puts so much natural moisture into the air, so the high altitudes force condensation. Any evaporation in the valleys is going to be held locally by the mountains, forcing condensation & precipitation before it can be pushed out of mountains by air currents. Generally, the high pressure of cold atmosphere at this altitude will mean the air movement is mostly directed down and out, so little air will be moved across mountains. It would create a rain shadow effect on Eastern New Zealand if it were not for the Island's extensive coastline minimizing the effects of the excessive precipitation in the mountains. Extensive coastline means they'll be getting moisture from EVERY direction.
In Virginia we have similar moisture benefits. The prevailing Westerlies and the dip of the Jet stream from the Great Lakes helps bring us precipitation from the west. Much of this falls in the mountains, but our mountains are much smaller than these, therefore do not trap as much moisture. We do observe a partial rain shadow when we see western cities like Roanoke and Blacksburg getting two feet of snow compared to our 3-6 inches, when the weather system is coming from the west.
Conversely, we often have Low Pressure Systems that also come from the Atlantic on the east, due to Trade Winds and the northward flow of the Jet Stream drawing in the weather systems. When the warm air mass comes from the East we end up with more precipitation (think about the BIG snowfalls) than our fellow Virginians to the west of the mountains.
Climate change has contributed to greater winter precipitation in recent years. More frequent polar cold air masses dipping with the Jet Steam from Canada in winter are due to lower polar freeze. With less ice in the Arctic due to warming ocean & air temperatures, the Polar Gyre (the circling of arctic cold air masses above the expanse of Ocean Ice and Greenland Land Ice [aka Glaciers]) has been disrupted. The disruption of this air mass means it is more likely to get as far south as Virginia and sometimes North Carolina or Georgia.
New Zealand does not face this extreme cold the way we do because it does. Not have the land connection to Antarctica the way Canada connects us to the Arctic. Temperatures stay colder as they move over land, but air masses moving over liquid water will be warmed - even at its coldest unfrozen ocean water does not fall below - 4C. So when the air temperatures in the arctic are frequently below - 20C (sometimes down to - 50C or more) - the ocean water definitely has a warming effect.
No comments:
Post a Comment