Hot summer: Parts of Far North had third hottest summer on record

Kaitāia and its surrounds had its third hottest summer on record, with Waitangi Day at Ahipara, above, full of glorious sunshine.

If you thought the summer was hot in the Far North you’d be right, with Kaitāia and its surrounds and Kerikeri recording their third hottest summer on record.

The season climate summary from Niwa said summer 2023-24 was characterised by higher-than-normal air pressure over - and east of - the North Island, and lower-than-normal air pressure to the south of the country.

This resulted in more westerly winds than normal over the South Island and lower North Island, which is characteristic of the strong, but waning, El Nino event in the equatorial Pacific.

‘’It was a warm summer overall for most of Aotearoa New Zealand. Temperatures were above average or well above average throughout the North Island, as well as for northern, eastern, and inland parts of the South Island. Near average temperatures were observed in western and southern parts of the South Island, while no areas observed below average temperatures,’’ Niwa climate scientist Gregor Macara said.

Macara said summer 2023-24 was the ninth-warmest summer on record. The nationwide average temperature was 17.6C, which was 0.8C above the 1991-2020 summer average from Niwa’s seven station temperature series which begins in 1909.

In the Far North, Kaitāia’s mean air temperature high for the three summer months - December to February - was 20.7C, 1.7C above normal and the town’s third-highest summer mean since records began there in 1948.

Kerikeri recorded a summer mean air temperature of 20.2C for the three months, also it’s third-highest reading since records began there in 1945.

As well, Kaitāia recorded its third-highest mean minimum temperature of 16.9C, which was 2.2C above the norm for the season.

And Dargaville recorded 16C as its mean minimum for the month, the third-highest for the Kaipara town since records began there in 1943.

Macara said summer rainfall was below normal or well below normal for northern, eastern, and inland parts of the South Island, as well as for southern and western parts of the North Island, eastern Bay of Plenty, and much of Northland.

At the end of summer, soil moisture levels were lower than normal in parts of Northland with the situation likely to get worse over the next few months.

The country’s highest summer temperature was 37C, at Hanmer Forest on February 5, while the lowest temperature was a chilly -0.7°C, at Cass, inland Canterbury, on January 25.