Auckland: Encyclopedia II - Auckland - Geography and climate

Auckland - Geography and climate

Auckland - Volcanoes

Auckland straddles the volcanoes of the Auckland Volcanic Field. The 50 volcanic vents in the field take the form of cones, lakes, lagoons, islands and depressions. Some of the cones have been partly or completely quarried away. The volcanoes are all individually extinct although the volcanic field itself is merely dormant. The most recent and by far the largest volcano, Rangitoto Island, formed within the last 1000 years. 'Rangi' means 'sky' and 'toto' means 'blood', which indicates it was named by Māori who had witnessed its eruption. Its size, its symmetry, its position guarding the entrance to Waitemata Harbour and its visibility from many parts of the Auckland region make it Auckland's most iconic natural feature. Rangitoto is eerily quiet as almost no birds and insects have settled on the island because of the rich acidic soil and type of flora that has adapted to grow out of the black broken rocky soil.

Auckland - Isthmus and harbours

Auckland lies on and around an isthmus, less than two km wide at its narrowest point between Mangere Inlet and Tamaki River. There are two harbours in the Auckland urban area surrounding this isthmus, Waitemata Harbour to the north, which opens east to the Hauraki Gulf, and Manukau Harbour to the south, which opens west to the Tasman Sea.

Bridges span both of these harbours, Auckland Harbour Bridge on Waitemata Harbour and Mangere Bridge on Manukau Harbour.

Auckland - Climate

Auckland has a warm-temperate climate, with warm, humid summers and cool but damp and lengthy winters. January temperatures average 21-24 °C (February and March are typically warmer than January, however), and July maximum temperatures average 14-16 °C. High levels of rainfall occur almost year-round (over 1100 mm per year), especially in winter. Climatic conditions vary in different parts of the city owing to geography such as hills, trees and ocean wind currents. Snow has never been recorded in Auckland, (although a heavy hailstorm in the 1950s was mistaken for snow by many residents), unlike some South island cities which may get snow most years. It has snowed north of Auckland at Kaikohe.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Geography and climate", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki