Wettest West Coast winter on record - over a metre of rain

New Zealand Defence Force personnel erect a weather barrier in Greymouth last month as heavy rains threaten properties on the West Coast. Photo / NZDF

Parts of the West Coast have suffered their wettest winter since records began.

Greymouth received 999mm of rain in the past three months, the highest since 1947, and Hokitika, with 1176mm, was the wettest it has been since 1866.

Haast had its second wettest winner; Reefton and Franz their third.

Temperatures were well above average, and it reached 19C on August 18, the highest on record for Greymouth.

Winter started memorably with a storm on June 13, which saw waves inundate parts of Ngakawau, Granity, Hector and Mokihinui.

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Niwa said nationally winter 2022 was the warmest winter on record for New Zealand.

The nationwide average temperature was 9.8C (1.4C above the 1981 to 2010 average from Niwa's seven-station temperature series, which begins in 1909) which surpassed the previous winter record set just last year.

Of the 10 warmest winters on record, six have occurred since 2013. In line with the overall national record, 50 individual locations experienced record warm temperatures in winter 2022 a further 22 locations experienced near-record warmth.

That included Greymouth and Hokitika, with their third highest mean air temperature on record, at just over 9C.

- Greystar.co.nz