In November, only 14mm of rainfall was recorded in Rotorua.
In July, 225mm was recorded in the district.
"It's been a pretty normal year really with rainfall and temperatures. There was nothing really of note apart from the tropical cyclone that added a bit of excitement," he said.
But July had a rather wet month last year compared with previous years, Mr Holden said.
Rotorua had 46 frosts in 2012 which was "a few more than normal".
He said lots of people were begging for rain in December, with farmers concerned they might be heading into a drought.
But rainfall for the month was about average with 118mm recorded.
"We had an even spread of rain but it dried away quickly," he said.
While Rotorua is normally one of the least windy cities in New Zealand, 74km/h winds or 40 knot winds were recorded on October 13.
"Seldom does it reach 40 knots."
Mr Holden said the temperature and rainfall norms were last revised in 2006, indicating there was a slight overall increase in recent years.
"Whether or not those figures suggest global warming is debatable as the period represents only a small proportion of the time scale, but they do support the trend."