Tauranga reaches hottest summer temperature for second time

Tauranga has reached its hottest temperature for the summer for the second time. Photo/file

Tauranga has reached its hottest temperature for the summer, again.

Today's high was 29C which Metservice meteorologist Tom Adams said was the second time Tauranga had reached its highest recorded temperature in January.

"The highest recorded [temperature] so far this year was 29C on January 9," Adams said.

"So we have already had one 29C."

However, Adams said today's high was not in the top five summer temperatures ever-recorded in Tauranga, with the hottest being 33.7C in 1983 which topped all months.

Adams said 28C was recorded in December last year which was the second highest recorded temperature in Tauranga so far this summer.

Looking ahead, temperatures were only expected to get warmer too with "a little bit of cloud" stopping Tauranga's temperatures from reaching some of the hottest in the country, Adams said.

"It is looking particularly warm next week...it is still going to feel very humid," he said. "It is going to be 20C or over every night for the next week."

Despite the humid temperatures, a severe thunderstorm watch remains in place for the Bay of Plenty.

Adams said of the 1869 lightning strikes recorded overnight, 225 were reported in the Bay of Plenty. "They were concentrated on the Kaimai Ranges," he said.

Metservice predicted humid conditions were likely to lead to showers and thunderstorms developing about the northeast of the North Island late morning or this afternoon.

One or two thunderstorms may become severe after 1pm about eastern areas of Bay of Plenty and Taupo and inland areas of Gisborne and northern Hawkes Bay.

Severe thunderstorms could produce localised downpours with intensities of 25 to 40mm per hour and should subside this evening.

Metservice advised intense rainfall could cause surface and/or flash flooding, especially about low-lying areas such as streams, rivers or narrow valleys, and could lead to slips.

Driving conditions would also be hazardous with surface flooding and poor visibility in heavy rain.

MetService will continue to monitor the situation closely for severe thunderstorm development and will issue further updates.