Cyclone Gabrielle hits New Zealand

February 12, 2023

New Zealand announced red heavy rain with Cyclone Gabrielle hitting its shore. Red Heavy rain means the downpours cause an emergency. The rain pour is greater than 30 millimetres and it occurs within one hour! In India, a red alert is issued when the pour is greater than 20 cm within 24 hours.

About Cyclone Gabrielle

It is a tropical cyclone.
It is a Severe Tropical Cyclone and belongs to Category 3; Speed of the cyclone ranges between 119 km/hr to 157 km/hr
State of Emergency declared in Auckland

Rainy season in Australia

The Southern Hemisphere summer falls in the months of Dec-March. Rains are common during 70% of these months. Of all these January is the wettest.

Why and when are severe rains in Australia and New Zealand?

During summers, the Pacific waters evaporate easily. They pump up moisture in the atmosphere. When the cool breeze touches these vapours in the evening, they condense and rain! Australia (and New Zealand) also gets snow. June to August are the snow seasons in the country.

Cyclone Gabrielle spins clockwise

All the cyclones in the northern hemisphere rotate anti-clockwise. And the cyclones in the southern hemisphere rotate clockwise direction. This is because of the Coriolis force of the earth.

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