Monthly

Rainfall: Well below average in South Westland, Fiordland and the Kaikoura Coast; well above average rainfall in parts of Hawke’s Bay and Wairarapa
Temperatures: Near or above average temperatures in the North Island, near or below average temperatures in much of the South Island
Sunshine: Near or records highs in coastal Otago and Southland, near or record lows in the southwest of the North Island
Rainfall was well below average in south Westland, Fiordland, along the Kaikoura Coast, in Banks Peninsula, and parts of inland South Canterbury.

Rainfall: Well below average in Northland and Hawke’s Bay; above average in Central New Zealand and some eastern South Island districts
Temperatures: 3rd consecutive month with below average temperatures
Sunshine: Above average in many eastern regions
September was dominated by cold southwesterlies. Rainfall was well below average in North Island areas sheltered from these, with the development of significant soil moisture deficits on the Kaikoura Coast.

Temperatures: Coldest August overall in more than ten years.

Rainfall: Extremely wet in eastern Bay of Plenty, with high rainfall and devastating floods; very dry in eastern Otago with below normal rainfall in many other regions
Temperatures: Below average, and very frosty in Canterbury and Otago;
Sunshine: Above normal in most places with some new July records, cloudier in the far north and east of the North Island
Eastern Bay of Plenty’s rainfall deluge during July was in complete contrast to conditions in much of the South Island and many northern and western North Island regions.

Temperatures: Very warm, especially in the east from Wairarapa to Central Otago
Rainfall: Extremely dry in North Canterbury, but above average in many western regions
Sunshine: Sunny over much of the in the North Island, but cloudier than usual in Westland as well as Motueka and Queenstown
June 2004 was the 5th warmest on record, temperatures being well above average, especially in the east from Wairarapa to Central Otago, by 1.5–2.5°C. More northwesterlies produced the milder temperatures.

Rainfall: Very dry overall. Extremely low rainfall in Northland, Auckland, Coromandel, and Bay of Plenty
Temperatures: Cold.

Temperatures: Warm, especially in Bay of Plenty and Gisborne
Rainfall: Wet in Northland, Auckland, Coromandel, Waikato, Bay of Plenty, Hawke’s Bay, Golden Bay, Canterbury and parts of Otago, but dry in the south and west of the North Island, as well as Wairarapa
Sunshine: Sunny in the west of the North Island, coastal Otago, and Southland, but extremely cloudy in Riwaka, Blenheim and Mt Cook
May’s climate was much warmer than usual, with temperatures almost the same as April 2004.

Rainfall: Dry in many northern and central North Island areas, and western and inland areas of the South Island. Wetter in Bay of Plenty, Nelson, and Southland
Temperatures: Cold in many parts of the North Island, and parts of the South Island
Soil moisture: Significant deficits persist in North and Central Otago
Sunny in the northeast of the North Island, southern parts of the South Island
April climate continued the generally cold dry theme of March. Rainfall was well below average over much of the northern half of the North Island until almost the end of the month.

Rainfall: Extremely wet, with devastating floods, in the centre, south and west of the North Island
Wind: Much windier than usual, especially over the North Island
Temperatures: Below average overall, especially in the South Island
Soil moisture: Significant deficits persist in central Marlborough, Canterbury, and Otago, but surpluses in some North Island areas
Sunshine: Extremely low in the south and west of the North Island
A total of 30 monthly historical rainfall records were swept aside in a number of New Zealand regions during the exceptionally wet February that produced widespread fl

Temperatures: Warm, especially in the east
Rainfall: Dry in parts of Otago and Southland, the Christchurch area and central Marlborough; well above average rainfall in Wairarapa, Hawke’s Bay, Wellington, parts of Northland, the Southern Alps and North Otago
Soil moisture: Significant deficits in parts of eastern Otago, the Christchurch area and central Marlborough
Sunshine: Sunny in the north and east of the North Island, and the south of the South Island; less sunshine than normal in the southwest of the North Island
January was very warm overall, with above normal temperatures in mo

Rainfall: Exceptionally dry in the east of the South Island, especially Canterbury with record low rainfall; above average in central North Island regions
Soil moisture: Significant deficits in Otago, Canterbury, and central Marlborough
Sunshine: Very sunny in the east of the South Island, much cloudier in the north and west of the North Island
Temperatures: Average or above average in most regions except in Westland and Fiordland.
December was extremely dry with very little rainfall and very sunny in the east of the South Island, especially in Canterbury where many sites recorded only 1 mm

Rainfall: Well below average rainfall in parts of Northland, Nelson, Canterbury and Otago; above average in Waikato, Hawke’s Bay, Wairarapa, Fiordland and coastal Southland
Soil moisture: Significant deficits in parts of Otago, Canterbury, central Marlborough, Gisborne and Hawke’s Bay
Temperatures: Below average in many regions
Sunshine: Well above average in Nelson, Canterbury, and north Westland
November was much drier than average in eastern Northland, parts of Nelson, around Christchurch and in some areas of Otago.

Saturday, 1 November 2003
Rainfall: Near or above average over much of the North Island; below average in Hawke’s Bay, Westland, Fiordland, Canterbury, Otago and Southland
Temperatures: Below average temperatures over much of the North Island, and the eastern South Island (Marlborough, Canterbury and Otago)
Sunshine: above average in most regions, especially Southland
October was a month of mixed weather. It was wet and rather unsettled in many areas during the first two weeks. However, mainly dry settled conditions prevailed for the rest of the month.

Wednesday, 1 October 2003
Rainfall: Extremely high in many areas, especially in Taranaki, King Country, Wanganui, Gisborne, Hawke’s Bay, Wairarapa, Kaikoura, Canterbury and north Otago; dry in Dunedin and South Otago
Temperatures: Above average temperatures over much of the North Island, especially Northland, Auckland, Bay of Plenty, Gisborne and Hawke’s Bay; below average in the southwest of the South Island especially south Westland, Fiordland and Central Otago
Sunshine: Below average in Northland, Gisborne, and Central Otago
September was a month of extremes.

Monday, 1 September 2003
Sunshine: Well above average in Southland and Westland
Rainfall: Less than half average in many inland and western regions, especially Manawatu, Horowhenua, and inland south Canterbury; wet in some areas exposed to the east, especially central Hawke’s Bay
Temperatures: Average or above average temperatures in many areas, colder in parts of Central and South Otago
August was more settled, and much drier than average in many inland and western regions, with wetter than usual conditions in some areas exposed to the east, and colder than usual conditions in parts

Friday, 1 August 2003
Sunshine: More than normal sunshine across the country, except for Auckland
Rainfall: Below average in most regions, especially Bay of Plenty, Marlborough and Nelson; wet along the Southland coast
Temperatures: Below average in most places and frostier than normal in many areas
July was colder, sunnier, and more settled and frosty than average, with well below average rainfall in most areas, especially parts of Marlborough and Nelson where July was the driest in more than 60 years of measurement. A severe snowstorm swept the country over 4–5 July.

Tuesday, 1 July 2003
Temperatures: Warmest June on record
Rainfall: Very dry in Canterbury, and significantly below average rainfall in parts of Gisborne and Hawke’s Bay; extremely wet in Nelson with above average rainfall in all western regions from Waikato to Fiordland
Sunshine: Sunny in most eastern regions, below average totals in the west of the North Island from Northland to Manawatu
June was the warmest ever recorded in New Zealand since records began over 150 years ago, with mean temperatures 2.0°C above normal.

Sunday, 1 June 2003
Sunny with well below average rainfall in Waikato, Wanganui, Manawatu, Wellington, Wairarapa, Westland, Fiordland, Marlborough, Alpine areas, Otago and Southland
Significant soil moisture deficits persist in Wanganui, Manawatu, Horowhenua, South Canterbury and Central Otago
Above average rainfall in Bay of Islands, Coromandel, and north and central Canterbury
Warmer in parts of Auckland, Bay of Plenty, Waikato, and Buller, but colder in Wellington, Wairarapa, Marlborough, Canterbury, Otago and Southland
May was much warmer than average over all of New Zealand, and rainfa

Thursday, 1 May 2003
Sunny with well below average rainfall in Waikato, Wanganui, Manawatu, Wellington, Wairarapa, Westland, Fiordland, Marlborough, Alpine areas, Otago and Southland
Significant soil moisture deficits persist in Wanganui, Manawatu, Horowhenua, South Canterbury and Central Otago
Above average rainfall in Bay of Islands, Coromandel, and north and central Canterbury
Warmer in parts of Auckland, Bay of Plenty, Waikato, and Buller, but colder in Wellington, Wairarapa, Marlborough, Canterbury, Otago and Southland
April was a month of regional contrasts.

Tuesday, 1 April 2003
Exceptionally dry in Wanganui, Manawatu, Wairarapa, and Otago
End of month rainfall brings relief to areas in extreme soil moisture deficit in Canterbury, but Wanganui, Manawatu, Horowhenua, Marlborough and Otago still in significant deficit
Record high rainfall in parts of Northland
The warmest month of the year with record high mean temperatures in inland Otago
The sunniest March ever in Kapiti, Wellington, and Dunedin, and extremely sunny over the rest of central and southern parts
For much of New Zealand, March was a month of new records produced by very settled, e

Sunday, 2 March 2003
Below average rainfall in Nelson, and many North Island areas
Significant soil moisture deficits affects many regions
High end-of-month rainfall in eastern Northland, Coromandel and parts of Gisborne – floods at Paeroa
Extremely sunny in the east
Below average temperatures persist in most regions
Unseasonably early frosts
Waikato, Taranaki, and Nelson all received less than a quarter (25 percent) of their normal February rainfall last month, while less than half (50 percent) of average rain fell in northwestern parts of Northland, and most central and southwestern

Saturday, 1 February 2003
Above average rainfall in the north of the North Island, but dry elsewhere
Significant soil moisture deficits now in Manawatu, Horowhenua, Gisborne and Hawke’s Bay
Cool
January was a dry month for much of the country. Rainfall was less than half of normal in the southwest of the North Island and Hawke’s Bay, and about a quarter in the Horowhenua. Only half normal rainfall also occurred in central Marlborough.

Thursday, 6 January 2003
Below average rainfall persists in eastern Northland and Bay of Plenty, dry in Canterbury and eastern Otago
Significant soil moisture deficits in eastern Marlborough, Canterbury and most of Otago
Above average rainfall in parts of Taranaki and Marlborough, and the southwest of the South Island
Sunny in the east of the South Island and Hawke’s Bay
For much of the country, December was a sunnier, drier than average month in many eastern regions and cloudier and wetter than usual in some western districts.
Rainfall was above average for the first time in six mont

Sunday, 1 December 2002
Windy and cold, below average temperatures persist
Below average rainfall persists in Marlborough and Bay of Plenty; low rainfall also in Northland
Wet in mid and north Canterbury
Sunny in Northland and Westland
For much of the country, November was a cold and windy month, the first three weeks being dominated by almost relentless winds from the south and west. Temperatures, as with October, continued well below average, with little of the normal spring warming until the end of November, due to frequent periods of cold south-westerlies and southerlies.