Cyclone staved off possible drought

Despite whipping the sea into a frenzy Cyclone Pam gave only a couple of boats that sinking feeling. Photo / John Stone

The cyclone season has been a blessing in disguise for Northland.

The 2014-2015 South Pacific cyclone season officially finishes on April 30 - ending the six months of the year when most tropical cyclones form in the South Pacific ocean.

But it has been dry weather plaguing farmers and growers rather than soakings from cyclones, said Federated Farmers Northland provincial president Roger Ludbrook. Dry weather was slightly eased by the arrival of Cyclone Pam, he added.

"If we didn't pick up the three rainfall events that occurred at the end of February and in March and then Pam, then we would potentially have gone into a drought type situation."

This season there have been seven named tropical cyclones formed over the Southwest Pacific and Coral Sea.

Most of these have stayed far to the north of New Zealand, with the exception of Tropical Cyclone Pam which sunk southwards from the tropics towards East Cape in March this year.

For Northland, rather than wrecking havoc as expected, Pam provided much-needed rain, Mr Ludbrook said.

"We got a good downpour but the most I heard was people getting 40-50mm of rain. We only got 22mm. The wind probably caused havoc but nothing out of the ordinary."

According to MetService, the strongest winds and the wettest weather was on the east of the region. Gusts reached 131km/h at Tutukaka while rainfall totals reached 68mm at Glenbervie Forest.

Mr Ludbrook said Northland farmers were now, however, facing an autumn drought.

"It has been a dry summer but it hasn't been a drought. Compared with last year, it has been good. It is what we consider to be very dry at the moment and it is as dry right now as it had been all summer.

"We are not really in summer any more. We are coming into April so it is well into autumn now and if anything we are going through an autumn dry spell which is a little bit unnerving."

WeatherWatch head analyst Philip Duncan said Northland had seen a mild summer thanks to a La Nina weather pattern. "Northland, often at times this cyclone season, has had more of a La Nina pattern - the opposite of El Nino - which encourages more cloud, more easterlies and generally a 'not so hot' summer."

Mr Duncan said Northland had felt some affects of the weather pattern.

"Cyclone Pam brushed Northland but the region wasn't hit by the damaging winds.

"However, major swells, well over 8m, pounded the entire eastern coastline of Northland around March 15 to 17 as Pam passed by just to the east."