Weather: Rain records smashed by historically wet weekend

Masterton recorded 124mm of rain in just 24 hours making it the wettest day recorded at the aerodrome station since it opened in 2009. Photo / James Church

The deluge of rain over the weekend smashed a number of weather records across the country.

MetService data shows Masterton recorded 124mm of rain in just 24 hours from 9am on Saturday to 9am on Sunday (at the aerodrome).

It was the wettest day recorded at the station since it opened in 2009.

118.8mm was recorded at Taupo aerodrome in the same period, its wettest day since 1976.

127.2mm fell in Wellington's Kapiti, its second wettest day since 1927. It also broke the record for the wettest February day.

And it was not just in the North Island, Blenheim recorded 72.8mm of rain in 24 hours, its second wettest February day as well.

Currently in Wellington.

Baring Head
Sustained wind: 122 km/h
Top wind gust: 156 km/h

Gusts have been frequently exceeding 100 km/h at our Greta Point location. pic.twitter.com/5v9QaSGMZj

— NIWA Weather (@NiwaWeather) February 12, 2022

Meteorologist Lewis Ferris said it was the type of weather system where records are broken as it was persistent, not just one single burst.

He said February is usually the time of year for it as it is within the tropical cyclone season.

Snow at Pinnacles Hut on Mt Somers on Sunday. Photo / Cristina Canard

There were also multiple reports of snow in the South Island over the weekend. Ferris said as they don't have an extensive network of snow depth records, it is impossible to tell how much fell.

Snow fell in the central South Island over the weekend. Photo / Cristina Canard

Snow maps show 10cm fell in some places between Saturday and Monday.

Although no records were broken, Christchurch Airport recorded 68.2mm of rain over the weekend.