Bay of Plenty records ‘above normal’ rainfall in 2023 - Niwa climate summary

The Bay of Plenty recorded “above normal” rainfall last year. Photo / Alex Cairns

The Bay of Plenty recorded “above normal” rainfall last year as New Zealand had its second-warmest year in recorded history, Niwa’s annual climate summary says.

The National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research report says the region recorded 120 to 149 per cent more rain than normal, alongside much of the eastern Wairarapa and the eastern Tararua districts.

Rainfall was “well above normal” – more than 149 per cent of the annual normal – for parts of Northland, Auckland, Coromandel, Gisborne and Hawke’s Bay.

It comes after several rainfall events last year hit the Bay of Plenty, including Cyclone Hale, Cyclone Gabrielle and the Auckland Anniversary weekend floods, which resulted in a landslide crashing into homes in Maungatapu and families being evacuated.

The first six months of 2023 were New Zealand’s second-warmest start to a year, but easily the wettest for a host of centres, with Tauranga, Kaikohe, Whangārei, Napier, Gisborne and multiple locations in Auckland all receiving a year’s worth of rainfall.

However, despite the number of “extreme rainfall events” last year, 2023 was only New Zealand’s 21st wettest year on record, the report said.

Annual temperatures were “above” or “well above” average for much of Aotearoa last year.

Small pockets of “near average” temperatures – within -0.5C and +0.5C of average – were observed in several regions in the country, including the Bay of Plenty.

During January and February, soil moisture levels were considerably higher than normal across the majority of the North Island.

This pattern of “above normal” soil moisture for the North lingered into autumn. By the end of winter, soil moisture levels had returned to “near normal” for much of the country.

At the end of December, “above normal” soil moisture was widespread throughout the central North Island, the report said.

A MetService meteorologist told the Bay of Plenty Times last month there was less risk of ex-tropical cyclones this summer compared to last but there would likely be “rainy days still in the mix”.

Data suggested a little below-average amount of rain for January and February in the Bay.

Earlier this week, climate scientist Professor Jim Salinger released data showing it had been the wider New Zealand region’s warmest 12 months in just over 150 years of records, the NZ Herald reported.

Globally, the average temperature for 2023 came in at an unprecedented 14.98C, European climate agency Copernicus calculated.