Wild Weather Focus of New Stamps

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4 March 2008

Wild Weather Focus of New Stamps

As a narrow island nestled between the Tasman Sea and the South Pacific Ocean, New Zealand is prey to climactic extremes.

Buffeted by the boisterous predominant westerlies known by sailors as the Roaring Forties, rocked by the remains of tropical cyclones and sluiced by floods, New Zealand weather is a force to be reckoned with.

As the effects of global warming kick in and the country experiences even more extreme weather events, our interest in the weather looks set to increase.

New Zealanders often say they experience four seasons in one day and the latest range of stamps from New Zealand Post acknowledges these wild weather patterns.

As the United Nations also declared 2008 the International Year of Planet Earth, New Zealand Post hopes the stamp range will increase awareness of the importance of Earth Sciences to our society.

The 50c stamp shows the devastating impact of the 1997/98 El Nino drought. This is particularly relevant as parts of New Zealand are currently experiencing severe drought.

While Wellington is known as the ‘windy city’ the image of a man struggling with his upturned umbrella in the 50c stamp was actually taken in Auckland.

Other stamps include;
* $1.00 stamp which shows the effects of storms and water crashing against the marina of Wellington’s Evans Bay
* $1.50 stamp with a picture of the floods which resulted from Cyclone Bola in 1988
* $2.00 stamp with images of the snow storms in Southland in 2001
* And the $2.50 stamp which shows the shimmer of heat waves on the beach in the middle of a scorching summer’s day.

New Zealand Post stamps general manager Ivor Masters says the images on the stamps are striking.

“Weather is fascinating to most people, these images reflect that fascination.”

New Zealand Post would like to thank the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) and the MetService (National Meteorological Service) for their advice and assistance, he adds.

The range is available for purchase from 5 March at all New Zealand Postshops, Real Aotearoa stores in Christchurch and Auckland, the Wanganui Stamp Centre and online at www.nzpost.co.nz/stamps

ENDS

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