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aardvark (ard'-vark) a controversial animal with
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Antarctic Oscillation to Blame for Bad Weather
16 February 2004 Scientists have suggested that the unseasonable bad weather that has been lashing New Zealand for the past few weeks is the result of a phenomenon known as the Antarctic Oscillation. Jim Renick from NIWA told National Radio this morning that during one phase of the Antarctic oscillation, the storms which normally sweep through southerly latitudes become displaced by high pressure systems that appear over the Antartic continent. This high pressure forces the storms and unsettled weather northward into the latitudes where New Zealand is situated. The bad news is that we're currently getting the Antarctic's summer, the good news is that each cycle of the oscillation seldom lasts more than a few weeks so there is good reason to believe that NZ's summer will return before too long. The current forecast, out to Thursday, is for continued high winds and showers or rain in most areas of central New Zealand.
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