A one-in-85-year flood across the North Island from Taranaki to Horowhenua, which caused damage to dozens of homes and forced evacuations, contributed to Whanganui's fourth highest June rainfall total on record - 237ml was recorded across the month at the city's airport - and Palmerston North's highest.
Totals "well above normal" - or more than 150 per cent of the usual amount - fell on parts of Taranaki, Mt Ruapehu, Horowhenua, Hokitika, Timaru, Oamaru, and Gore.
In contrast, it was a very dry month for eastern and northern areas of the North Island, as well as coastal northern Canterbury.
Some areas in Northland, Auckland, Coromandel, Bay of Plenty, Gisborne, and Hawke's Bay received less than half the normal June rainfall.
The lack of rainfall in eastern parts of both Islands exacerbated concerns regarding soil moisture, levels, but particularly in northern Canterbury.
At the start of this month, soils were notably drier than normal for East Cape, around Napier, coastal Wairarapa, southern Marlborough and eastern parts of Canterbury north of Christchurch.
Elsewhere, soil moisture levels were near normal, aside from around Dunedin and further inland, where soil moisture levels were wetter than normal for the time of year.
The month was also notable for the big freeze that hit parts of the South Island.
During the nights and early mornings of June 23-26, a high pressure system combined clear skies with a southerly flow, resulting in record-low temperatures in some places.
In particular, sites in the Mackenzie Country and Central Otago dropped to well below freezing and the early on the morning of June 23, Lake Pukaki recorded -19.8C.
A number of other sites also recorded temperatures below -10C.
New Zealand's coldest temperature on record is -25.6C, recorded in Ranfurly, Central Otago, on July 17, 1903.
During the second night of very cold temperatures on June 24, Tara Hills, a climate station near Omarama, recorded a low temperature of -21C - the lowest temperature officially recorded in New Zealand in 20 years, excluding high altitude stations.
This temperature is also the fourth-lowest temperature ever recorded in New Zealand.
During June 24, Tara Hills reached a maximum temperature of a chilly -9C, its lowest maximum temperature on record, and overnight on June 24-25, for the third night in a row, temperatures in the central South Island plunged to well below freezing.
Fortunately, the extreme weather isn't expected to continue.
A climate outlook this week predicted temperatures were most likely to be in the near average range for all regions of the country for the rest of winter.
Over the next three months, above normal pressures were forecast to the west of New Zealand, with below normal pressures expected well south, and northeast, of the country.
This mixed pressure pattern was likely to be accompanied by anomalous southerly-quarter wind flows, which was typical of El Nino conditions during the winter season in New Zealand.
A month of extremes
• The highest temperature was 21.7C, observed at Cheviot on June 1.
• The lowest temperature was -21.0C, observed at Tara Hills on June 24.
• The highest 1-day rainfall was 454 mm, recorded at North Egmont on June 19.
• The highest wind gust was 189 km/hr, observed at Cape Turnagain on June 29.
• Of the six main centres in June 2015, Auckland was the warmest, Christchurch was the coolest, Tauranga was the driest, Dunedin was the wettest and cloudiest, and Hamilton was the sunniest.
Of the available, regularly reporting sunshine observation sites, the sunniest four centres so far in 2015 (January 1 to June 30) are: Blenheim (1356 hours), Whakatane (1354 hours), Waipara West (1338 hours), and Appleby (1327 hours).
