The sun smiles most on Whakatane

SUN CAPITAL: Whakatane was the sunniest spot in the country last year. PHOTO/FILE

If you're looking for the sunniest spot in the country, you needn't look far. Whakatane has taken the crown for 2014's sunniest location.

Niwa's annual climate summary revealed Whakatane basked in 2711 sunshine hours, well ahead of Blenheim with 2509 and Lake Tekapo with 2505.

It was a particularly sunny year for the eastern Bay of Plenty with above normal annual sunshine hours.

Meanwhile, Turangi recorded its second driest year on record with just 69 per cent of normal annual rainfall.

Not surprisingly, the town also recorded near record high annual sunshine hours with 2170 hours. It was the third highest result since records began in 1976.

In April, Rotorua recorded its highest temperature for the month on the 7th, when it reached a high of 25C.

Rotorua's coldest day in May was recorded at -3.6C.

The city's windiest October day had gusts of 104km/h.

Nationally, the highest air temperature of the year of 35.7C was recorded at Clyde on February 20, while the two lowest air temperatures were recorded at Lake Tekapo in mid-July. The town recorded -9.8C on July 17 and -9.7C on July 18.

The heaviest rainfall for one day happened in north Taranaki on August 2 when 311mm was recorded.

Of the six main centres, Auckland was the warmest, Tauranga the sunniest, Christchurch the driest, Wellington the wettest and Dunedin the coldest, Niwa said.