Tauranga basked in July sunshine

While it may not seem that July weather was anything to celebrate, Tauranga was one of the sunniest regions in New Zealand last month.
Tauranga and Auckland were jointly named the sunniest regions of the six main centres.
In July, Tauranga basked under 153 hours of sunshine with a mean temperature of 11.2C measured at Tauranga Airport - well above the national average of 8C. This was near normal levels at this time of year, a Niwa report said.
Auckland's average temperature was slightly higher than Tauranga's - 11.6C - but also shared 153 sunshine hours last month.
The warmer weather brought fewer showers to the region and a below-normal rainfall level to the Bay of Plenty, Wellington and eastern parts of Northland.
In sharp contrast to the many hours of sunshine and warm weather, freezing air temperatures brought a light dusting of snow on the Kaimai Ranges on July 25. The city also experienced outbursts of showers.
Last month, 94mm of rain was recorded at Tauranga airport - this was slightly below normal levels expected in Tauranga for this time of year, Niwa said.
Of the six main centres in July 2011, Auckland was the warmest (11.6C), Christchurch the coldest (5.7C), Tauranga and Auckland jointly the sunniest (153 sunshine hours), Hamilton the wettest (169mm rainfall) and Dunedin the driest (20mm rainfall).
Looking ahead, it's going to be a warm summer, according to the Niwa National Climate Centre.
A seasonal outlook for early spring (August-October) indicates temperatures are likely to be slightly warmer than normal in all regions of New Zealand, except the east of the South Island.
However, during this time, cold snaps typical of winter will occur from time to time, the report said.
In the Bay of Plenty, the report said: "Temperatures are equally likely to be near average or above average for the time of year. Rainfall totals, soil moisture levels, and river flows over August-October are all likely to be in the normal range." Genevieve Helliwell