Planets positioning for balmy summer

This summer the weather in Auckland will be hot with less rain than usual, forecasters say. Photo / Brett Phibbs

Niwa says this summer will be better than last year. Nikki Preston talks to three forecasters - two scientific and another less so - on what they predict for the next three months. The Herald will review them in February.

Weatherwatch's Philip Duncan

I see no evidence that will change the weather pattern we've had since autumn, which is a mixture of everything. Autumn, winter and spring didn't have a lot of extremes. I see that pattern continuing across December and January. That might not sound positive but I think it is - compared to last summer. I'm almost certain it will be better than last summer. It may not be the hottest we've ever had but it will be hot. Dry hot spells will be balanced by some rain.

Auckland may not have an extremely hot summer unless we can get some really humid tropical weather coming in. But I don't think it's going to be a hot start - we are getting a lot of winds off the Tasman.

Niwa climate scientist Georgina Griffiths
A normal to dry summer is likely for the north and east - Gisborne, Hawke's Bay, Wairarapa, Bay of Plenty, Taupo, Waikato, Northland, Auckland are all looking for that dryish summer flavour. Wellington through Taranaki will have closer to normal rainfall for the summer period, and a slightly cooler summer is forecast for Taranaki through Wellington.

Auckland is forecast to have normal to dry conditions for December-February with less rainfall than typical years. It's got quite dry in Auckland, almost to levels that are unusually low for the time of year. Aucklanders will be starting to conserve water in another month or two if it continues to be dry.

Gigi Sosnoski, motivational astrologer

December certainly looks like it will be a dry, enjoyable time. Mars and Pluto are in Capricorn, which is a dry sign and there are a number of planets in the sign of Sagittarius which is usually adventurous. In January, Mars will be in Aquarius so we could perhaps see more thunder and lightning than usual. And it could be a time where we see some extreme fluctuations, but it's not going to be anything too dramatic. February in particular could be extra wet - we have Mars in a water sign, Saturn in a water sign and Neptune in a water sign so that can indicate a time of a little more dampness or a little more rain. But between now and then I think there is a good chance of some nicer weather.

Averages for summer

19.3C Central Auckland
18.2C South Auckland
19.3C Whangarei
18.9C Tauranga
18.1C Hamilton
17C New Plymouth
16C Wellington