A stunning sunset over Lake Taupō. Photo / Merv Richdale
A stunning sunset over Lake Taupō. Photo / Merv Richdale
Despite recording the first frost of the year on Anzac Day morning when the grass minimum temperature registered -1.5C, April 2023 proved warmer, drier and more pleasant than usual.
Daytime maximum temperatures averaged 18.6C, as much as 1.2C above the April average and nighttime minimum air temperatures averaged 7.9C -just a degree warmer, while overall daily temperatures for the month were 13.3C, again better by 1.2C.
April last year produced similar figures. For the second successive month this year April recorded below average rainfall.
The monthly total of 63mm over 11 wet days was 38.4mm below normal, but there were three wet days more than usual for April with 11 days when precipitation was recorded.
The month saw a return to the normal weather pattern for Taupō, being dominated by large areas of high pressure, interrupted only by frontal systems that moved north from the Southern Ocean over the Tasman Sea and the country.
It should be noted that at the end of the month a rogue sub-tropical weather system accompanied by wind and rain was approaching from the seas to the north of New Zealand and this held a threat of wet, windy and humid conditions for the first few days of May.
