March weather cooler than expected in Taupō

The hottest day of March was Sunday, March 1, when the Wairakei Estate Ironkidz event was held. Photo / Jo Davies Photography

March 2020 in Taupō proved to be much cooler than usual.

Although the first month of autumn began with warm days and nights the pattern quickly changed and only mild days and cooler nights followed. In fact the average day time maximum temperature for the month read 21.9 degrees which was 1.1 degrees below the expected maximum for March.

The overnight minimum temperature gave a reading of just 7.9 degrees, 2.5 degrees below the expected average. At 14.9 degrees the average daily temperature was as much as 1.8 degrees below the average for March.

The warmest day proved to be on the first day with a reading of 27.0 degrees and the coldest night stood at just 2.2 degrees on the 18th. Even though March 2020 recorded a total rainfall of 72.0mm this was below the March monthly average of 75.0mm.

Most significantly over the first three months of this year Taupō has recorded rain on only 14 of the 91 days…very dry indeed! High winds were present on four occasions in March with the peak gust of 52km/h recorded at Taupō Airport on Wednesday March 4 and 56km/h the next day. The tail end of Cyclone Gretel brought a top gust of 70km/h on Tuesday March 17 and there was another peak gust of 67km/h the next week, on Tuesday March 4.

March highs and lows: Warmest day - Sunday, March 1, maximum temperature of 27.0 degrees. Coldest day - Wednesday, March 18 minimum temperature of 2.2 degrees.