新西兰英语 234 Weather for 2009

　　We now have a summary of our weather for last year. NIWA (the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric¹ Research) put this summary on their website. NIWA is a company which is owned by the government. Scientists at NIWA do research on climate, the atmosphere, the oceans and fish.
Last year, the weather was like New Zealand, very different in different parts of the country. It is about 1,600km from the top of the North Island to the bottom of the South Island and temperatures are very different from the far north to the far south. Inland places have different weather from places on the coast, and the west coast has much more rain, especially the South Island West Coast.
The average temperature in Auckland² was 14.6 degrees Celsius³ and they had 955mm of rain whereas⁴ Christchurch in the South Island had an average temperature of 11.1?C and only 589mm of rain. The warmest average temperature was in Whangarei in the far north, with 15.8?C. The highest temperature was at Culverden in inland Canterbury with 38?C on the 8th February. The lowest air temperature was at Middlemarch in Central Otago at -11.7?C on 19th July. Mt Cook had the most rain in one day: 341mm on 27th April.
Two months in 2009 had above average temperatures while four months had below average. The average temperature for the whole country was 12.3?C, 0.2?C below normal. For the whole decade⁵ (10 years) from January 2000 to the end of 2009, the average temperature was 12.6?C which was 0.1?C above the normal for the three decades⁶ 1971 to 2000.
Nelson at the top of the South Island was the sunniest with 2571 hours of sunshine. Tauranga, on the east coast of the North Island, had 2540 hours and Blenheim, near Nelson, had 2477 hours of sunshine.

1 atmospheric   

adj.大气的，空气的；大气层的；大气所引起的

参考例句：

• Sea surface temperatures and atmospheric circulation are strongly coupled.海洋表面温度与大气环流是密切相关的。
• Clouds return radiant energy to the surface primarily via the atmospheric window.云主要通过大气窗区向地表辐射能量。

2 Auckland   

n.奥克兰(新西兰港市)

参考例句：

• Auckland is the largest city in New Zealand.奥克兰是新西兰最大的城市。
• Return to auckland by bus in afternoon.下午乘车返回奥克兰。

3 Celsius   

adj.摄氏温度计的，摄氏的

参考例句：

• The temperature tonight will fall to seven degrees Celsius.今晚气温将下降到七摄氏度。
• The maximum temperature in July may be 36 degrees Celsius.七月份最高温度可能达到36摄氏度。

4 whereas   

conj.而，却，反之

参考例句：

• They want a house,whereas we would rather live in a flat.他们想要一座房子，而我们宁愿住在一套房间里。
• Some praise him,whereas others condemn him.有些人赞扬他，而有些人谴责他。

5 decade   

n.十年，十年期

参考例句：

• Prices have risen steadily during the past decade.过去的十年间，物价一直在上涨。
• The century has rounded into its ninth decade.本世纪已进入了90年代。

6 decades   

十年，十年间( decade的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The middle decades of the 19th century marked a watershed in Russia's history. 19世纪中叶标志着俄国历史的转折点。
• The Empress Dowager of the Qing Dynasty attended to state affairs for several decades. 清朝慈禧太后垂帘听政几十年。