With 1 1/2 times as much rain in many areas and meagre sunshine, the country has just suffered one of the wettest and most unsettled summers on record.
Dr Jim Salinger, of the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (Niwa), said yesterday that it had been extremely wet in the
south and west of the North Island and eastern regions of the country from Gisborne to Canterbury, very cloudy in Wellington and Canterbury, and cool in many eastern regions.
But he also said there had been low rainfall in some areas of the South Island and it had been very warm on the West Coast of the South Island.
This summer has also seen an unusually large number of thunderstorms, two "significant" southerly storms, a few hailstorms, and a tornado, he said.
The summer's climate pattern had been dominated by many more depressions than usual over the Tasman Sea and across New Zealand, with above-average pressures to the south. This resulted in more frequent easterly winds over the South Island.
Sunshine was below average over much of the country, especially in Wellington and Canterbury and average temperatures were at least 0.5C below normal in Hawkes Bay and the east of the South Island from Marlborough to South Canterbury.
But the West Coast basked in temperatures a degree above normal and it was also warmer than normal in parts of Auckland, Waikato, Taranaki, the southern lakes and Southland.
Rainfall was at least 50 per cent above normal in the south, west, and east of the North Island, and from Marlborough to Canterbury, with many places experiencing their wettest summer on record.
Rainfall was well above average in most other areas of the North Island, as well as in Buller, North Westland and Nelson. Rainfall was below average in Fiordland, south Westland and parts of Southland.
Unseasonably heavy rainfall caused flooding in many parts of the country, including Wellington, Napier, Akaroa and throughout Canterbury.
On January 4, a tornado uprooted trees at the Levin Golf Course and on the same day lightning struck a German tourist twice on the Ben Lomond track near Queenstown, the second time as he lay unconscious from the first strike.
- NZPA