Source: NZ Herald

Located between two tectonic plates, New Zealand is no stranger to severe natural disasters such as earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. Lately, we’ve been experiencing some extreme weather events, the most notable being Cyclone Gabrielle, which wreaked havoc in the country and in whose aftermath many families continue to face difficulties.

Having the worst impact in the north of the North Island, Gabrielle brought with her a radical decrease in the atmospheric pressure, which was recorded by our CloudWatcher in Hamilton, Waikato¹.

¹ You can access this device’s real-time data on http://aagsolo.lunatico.es:10800/, it’s always interesting to see New Zealand’s changing weather.

13-02 at 00:50

13-02 at 09:18

13-02 at 18:08

Starting around 3 am on the 14^th, we can see the pressure increase again.

15-02 at 21:43

16-02 at 19:36

17-02 at 23:03

Which, plotted together in a single graph, look like this:

This reminds us of last year’s Hunga-Tonga volcanic eruption, which was also recorded by one of our devices.

Courtesy of Simon Lewis

It is interesting to compare these graphs to a normal day’s pressure readings.

14-03 at 12:53

That being said, we ask everybody to stay safe during severe meteorological events like Cyclone Gabrielle, and wish the best of luck to those who are still battling its consequences.