2024: Warm for most, dry for northern and eastern areas
| Temperature | 2024 was New Zealand’s 10th-warmest year on record, based on NIWA’s seven station series which begins in 1909. Annual temperatures were above average (0.51-1.20°C above the annual average) for much of Northland, northern Waikato, Bay of Plenty, coastal Hawke’s Bay, southern Taranaki, Whanganui, eastern and southern Wairarapa, Tasman, inland northern Canterbury, Banks Peninsula, and eastern Otago. Annual temperatures were near average (±0.50°C of average) elsewhere. |
| Rainfall | Rainfall was below normal (50-79% of the annual normal) for much of eastern and northern Canterbury, Tasman, Wairarapa, Bay of Plenty, the Coromandel Peninsula, and Northland. Rainfall was above normal (120-149% of the annual normal) for western parts of Otago, and inland and western parts of Southland. Near normal annual rainfall (80-119% of the annual normal) was typically observed elsewhere. |
| Soil moisture | From January to May, soil moisture levels were below normal for many parts of the country. In March, the Ministry for Primary Industries classified the drought conditions in Northland, Taranaki, Manawatū-Whanganui, Wairarapa, Wellington, Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson as a medium-scale adverse event. By the end of winter, soil moisture levels had recovered such that near normal levels were observed for all except isolated parts of Central Otago (above normal soil moisture). By the end of September, lower than normal soil moisture levels emerged in eastern parts of the North Island, particularly Hawke’s Bay, and this persisted through most of the remainder of the year. Above normal soil moisture levels emerged for much of Southland and Otago during September, and these persisted to the end of November. At the end of December, below normal soil moisture was widespread for northern, central and western parts of the North Island. In contrast, soil moisture levels were above normal for eastern parts of the North Island, Christchurch, Banks Peninsula, and southern parts of Southland. |
| Sunshine | Marlborough experienced New Zealand’s highest annual sunshine total during 2024 (2769 hours recorded at Blenheim). |
Overview
2024 was Aotearoa New Zealand’s 10th-warmest year on record. The 2024 nationwide average temperature calculated from NIWA’s seven station series was 13.25˚C, being 0.51˚C above the 1991-2020 annual average. Of New Zealand’s 10 warmest years on record, eight have occurred since 2013 (Figure 1). The ongoing warming trend observed both locally and globally is consistent with human-caused climate change. This is largely driven by human greenhouse gas emissions. Atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) levels continue to rise, surpassing 420 ppm at NIWA’s Baring Head monitoring station during 2024.
Data from NIWA’s seven station series shows eight months of 2024 had temperatures that were well above average (>1.2°C above the monthly average) or above average (0.5-1.2°C above the monthly average). December and January were the country’s warmest months compared to normal, at 1.5°C and 1.3°C above the 1991-2020 monthly average, respectively. Meanwhile, May and March were relatively cool, recording mean temperatures of 1.3°C and 1.0°C below the 1991-2020 monthly average, respectively. March and May were just the second and third months to have below average national temperatures (0.5-1.2°C below the monthly average) since May 2017.
In early 2024, a weakening El Niño event in the equatorial Pacific delivered more westerly (summer 2023-24) and southwesterly (autumn) winds than normal over New Zealand. ENSO-neutral conditions prevailed from June to December. New Zealand had more easterly and northeasterly winds than normal during winter, while spring was characterised by more westerly winds than normal. The prevalence of west-southwest winds contributed to a dry year for many northern and eastern areas of the country, as these areas are relatively sheltered from weather systems arriving from the west-southwest. The dryness was exceptional in some locations, with Dargaville and Whitianga each observing their driest year on record. A further eight locations observed near-record low annual rainfall totals. (see Section 6 for details).
Several extreme rainfall events occurred throughout the year, with four local state of emergency declarations (Westland District in January, Wairoa in June, Dunedin and Clutha District in October, and Westland District in November). The southern South Island was exposed to frequent rain-bearing systems during the year, and the Ministry for Primary Industries announced a medium-scale adverse event classification for Southland and the Clutha District in October due to persistently wet conditions. Most notably, Lumsden observed its wettest year since records began in 1982.
Settled weather was a feature of July, with a blocking high pressure system in place for several weeks. The strength of the high pressure peaked on 10 July, when Ranfurly (Otago) registered a mean sea level air pressure (MSLP) of 1046.5 hPa – which is mainland New Zealand’s highest MSLP measurement on record. Local and regional sea surface temperatures (SSTs) have an important influence on weather conditions in New Zealand. In 2024, local SSTs were cooler compared to recent years, dipping below normal for the first time since early 2021 during autumn. This contributed to the cooler than average air temperatures the country observed during March and May. By mid-late winter, local SSTs returned to above normal and remained that way for much of the rest of the year. Local SSTs were most unusually warm during late-January to early-February, peaking at 2.1°C above average off the west of the North Island. Local SSTs were most unusually cool during April, falling as low as 0.9°C below average off the west of the South Island.
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