Despite a "changeable" December, temperatures and rainfall are looking fairly promising for summer in Rotorua.
According to Niwa's summer outlook for December to February, in the Bay of Plenty area temperatures are about equally likely to be near average or above average.
The rainfall totals are most likely to bein the near normal range, with soil moisture levels and river flows most likely to be near normal.
Niwa forecaster Chris Brandolino said there was a lot which went into how a season panned out, but he thought it was fair to say December would be "changeable".
He said it looked like December would go through periods of quite nice, pleasant weather and a couple of cooler days.
In a video on Niwa's website regarding this summer season Mr Brandolino said it was a difficult outlook.
"We look for climate drivers, things that will steer us into a direction of what we think will happen over the coming three months, and there was not much to sink our teeth into.
"So, it was a challenging outlook. We will see what happens over the coming three months."
Bay of Plenty, December 2016 to February 2017 outlook: -Temperatures are about equally likely to be near average (40 per cent chance) or above average (45 per cent chance) -Rainfall totals are most likely to be in the near normal range (45 per cent chance) -Soil moisture levels and river flows are most likely to be near normal (45 per cent chance)
