Atmospheric submersion
BY NOW, MUCH OF AOTEAROA
New Zealand knows what a ‘long-lived atmospheric river’ is and just how much devastation one can wreak, especially when it parks overhead for several days.
One landed on our shores on 16 August. As NIWA meteorologist Tristan Meyers explained, atmospheric rivers are huge plumes of moisture that move from the tropics to the mid-latitudes. When such a river hits another weather event or encounters New Zealand’s mountainous terrain, vast amounts of water vapour are “squeezed” out, falling as heavy rain or snow. In this instance, the plume
