Seasonal

Winter 2006: Wild in the lower North Island, exceptional snowstorms in the east of the South Island, but quite benign in the north of both islands.

Rainfall: Extremely high in Northland, Auckland, and Bay of Plenty; extremely low in Central Otago
Temperature: Near average throughout much of New Zealand
Sunshine: Sunny in Southland
Autumn rainfall was extremely high in Northland, Auckland, and Waikato, and parts of Bay of Plenty, and extremely low in parts of Central Otago. Seasonal mean temperatures were above average in Auckland, Coromandel, western Bay of Plenty, Nelson, Golden Bay, and parts of Waikato, and below average in parts of South Canterbury, and North Otago.

Rainfall: Extremely high in Bay of Plenty and Taupo; normal or below normal in many other regions
Soil moisture: Early significant deficits in eastern areas of the country, spreading to some other parts of North Island later
Temperature: Above average overall with very hot conditions in central Otago on a few days
Sunshine: Sunny in Wellington, Westland, and coastal areas of Otago and Southland
Summer rainfall was extremely high in parts of Bay of Plenty and Taupo.

Rainfall: Extremely low in Kapiti, Wellington, Nelson, and Otago; rather wet in Gisborne and Hawke’s Bay
Soil moisture: Significant deficits in the east from southern Wairarapa to Otago, as well as Kapiti, Wellington, and Nelson
Sunshine: Extremely sunny in the west from Taranaki to Westland, as well as Wellington, Nelson and Southland
Temperature: Above average in many western regions
Spring was extremely sunny in the west, with contrasting rainfall patterns across New Zealand.

Monday, 5 September 2005
One of the warmest, very dry in parts, sunny and a relatively settled winter
Rainfall: Extremely low in the east from Wairarapa to Otago, including Wellington
Soil moisture: Moderate deficits in parts of south Canterbury and north Otago
Temperature: Above average throughout much of the South Island and the north and west of the North Island; near average elsewhere
Sunshine: Rather sunny in the far north and south
Winter was warmer, drier, rather settled, and sunny in many regions.

Wednesday, 8 June 2005
A season of regional contrasts
Sunshine: Record high sunshine in the north of the North Island, above average over much of the South Island
Rainfall: Record rainfall in parts of the Bay of Plenty, above average in Hawke’s Bay and Wairarapa; well below average in Northland
Soil moisture: Severe deficits throughout Northland during early and mid autumn
Temperature: Above average in the north of the North Island, below average in south Canterbury and north Otago
Autumn was a season of regional contrasts.

Sunday, 6 March 2005
Temperature swings: A very cold December and a very warm February
Soil Moisture: Severe or significant deficits throughout much of the North Island, and the north and east of the South Island during mid and late summer
Rainfall: Well above average rainfall in southern Wairarapa and the east from mid Canterbury to Southland; below average rainfall in eastern Bay of Plenty
Sunshine: above average in the east of the North Island
Temperature extremes by day and by month were features of the 2004-05 summer which turned out to be 0.3°C below normal over the three month per

Monday, 6 December 2004 Rainfall: Below average in Northland, and from Kaikoura to north Canterbury, but wet in parts of Otago Soil Moisture: Significant deficits persisted in coastal Marlborough, and are showing up in Hawke’s Bay, Canterbury and areas of North and Central Otago Temperature: Close to average overall, a cool start followed by a mild end Sunshine: Above average in most eastern regions; but a lack of sunshine in the west For many, spring began with cold southwesterlies, was followed by average temperatures in October and concluded with a mild, although windy November.

Sunday, 12 September 2004
Temperature: A very warm start, followed by colder months of July and August
Sunshine: Extremely sunny in the north and west of the North Island and sunnier than normal in the south and east of the South Island
Rainfall: Above average in Bay of Plenty, Gisborne, and Fiordland; below average in Northland and the Kaikoura Coast
For many, winter began with a very mild June, followed by a colder frosty July and then a cold August.

Wednesday, 9 June 2004
Temperatures: Below average in many regions
Rainfall: Below average in the far north, the south and west of the North Island, Marlborough, and Fiordland; above average in coastal Southland
Sunshine: Sunny in the North Island and the east of the South Island
Autumn’s climate was cooler than usual, especially in the west of the North Island from Northland to King Country, with average or below average rainfall over much of the country. However, rainfall was above average along the Southland coast. Soil moisture levels were lower than normal in Central Otago.

Tuesday, 9 March 2004
A season of contrasts: Severe soil moisture deficits in January; floods in February
Rainfall: Record high totals in many western North Island locations
Temperatures: A warm January but cool February
Sunshine: Record low totals in many western North Island regions, but sunny in Otago and Southland
The summer of 2003/04 was a season of extremes.

Saturday, 6 December 2003
Rainfall: Above normal rainfall over much of the North Island and in coastal Marlborough and Canterbury
Temperatures: Below average in the southern half of the South Island, near average elsewhere
Sunshine: Above average in King Country and Canterbury
The spring of 2003 was wetter than usual over much of the North Island and the east of the South Island. Temperatures were near normal in the North Island and northern half of the South Island, but colder than normal in the southern half of the South Island. It was sunnier than average in King Country and Canterbury.

Tuesday, 9 September 2003
Rainfall: Generally drier than normal, with well below average rainfall in Bay of Plenty and the eastern South Island; above average in Fiordland
Temperatures: Above average in most regions; 10th equal warmest winter on record
Sunshine: Well above average in Wellington and coastal Otago
The winter of 2003 was warmer and drier than usual. It was much warmer than normal in inland sheltered areas of Canterbury and Otago. This was, in part, mainly due to an extremely warm June, in fact the warmest on record for New Zealand overall.

Wednesday, 18 June 2003
Rainfall: well below average in Horowhenua, Kapiti, Wellington, central Marlborough and Otago; above average in Northland
Soil moisture: significant deficits for much of the autumn in the southwest of the North Island and the north and east of the South Island
Sunshine: extremely sunny in Kapiti, Wellington, Westland, and coastal Otago
Temperatures: above average in the North Island, and the north and west of the South Island
Below average rainfall was a major feature of the autumn for many regions, especially Horowhenua, Kapiti, Wellington, central Marlborough and O

Thursday, 6 March 2003
Sunny with significant soil-moisture deficits in many regions
Average or below average rainfall in most regions
Above average rainfall in some northeastern parts of the North Island
Coolest summer overall since 1996/97
Summer commenced with a windier than normal December, followed by generally sunny, but cooler and much drier than average conditions during January and February. Significant soil-moisture deficits occurred throughout the summer in much of the eastern South Island, spreading to much of the North Island from January onwards.

Friday, 6 December 2002
Windy: warmer at first, then very cold
Significant soil moisture deficits in parts of New Zealand by the end of November
Sunny in many northern and eastern regions
Rainfall well below average in Bay of Plenty
Wet and unsettled in the southwest of the South Island
Many extreme events
Spring commenced with a windier and warmer than normal September. However, along with the wind, very cold conditions for the time of year predominated for the rest of the season.

Friday 6 September 2002
Unusually mild in the North Island and northern South Island
Above average rainfall in the central and eastern North Island and the south and west of the South Island
Below average rainfall in the northeast of the South Island
Less sunshine in many western and central North Island areas
The winter of 2002 was the 5th consecutive warmer than normal winter for New Zealand, in spite of the icy southerlies and snow blasts that occurred to sea level in Canterbury in June and reached the Volcanic Plateau and regions of the South Island in August.

Wednesday 5 June 2002
Sunny with below average rainfall in many areas, especially in the east
Above average rainfall in parts of Buller and Southland
Warm in Auckland, Waikato, Buller, Nelson and Central Otago
Autumn was sunny with below average rainfall in many regions. It was very dry, with less than 50 percent (half) of normal autumn rainfall in Gisborne, central Hawke’s Bay, central Marlborough, the Kaikoura coast and parts of Central Otago. Many areas in these eastern regions experienced one of their driest autumns on record.

Monday, 4 March 2002
Extremely wet in the south and west of the North Island and eastern regions from Gisborne to Canterbury
Below average rainfall in some southern South Island areas
Very warm on the West Coast of the South Island; Cool in many eastern regions
Very cloudy in Wellington and Canterbury
Many North Island and most eastern districts received at least one and a half times their normal summer rainfall, and experienced one of the wettest and most unsettled summers on record.

Sunday 16 December 2001
A spring of extremes
5th warmest spring overall
Extremely wet in eastern Bay Of Plenty, Marlborough and Nelson
The spring of 2001 was one of the warmest on record, being the fifth warmest since reliable measurements began in the 1850s. It was a season of extremes, beginning with rather settled weather in September.

Wednesday 5 September 2001
Below average rainfall in many regions, especially western Bay Of Plenty
Mixed temperatures, extremes of warmth and cold
Very sunny in Taranaki, Nelson and Westland
Mixed climatic conditions in winter resulted in a variety of extremes and contrasts.

Wednesday 13 June 2000
An autumn of extremes
Record low rainfall in Wellington and the east of the South Island
Very wet in Northland, Coromandel and Bay Of Plenty
Extremely sunny in central New Zealand
Warm in many areas
A fresh New Zealand record low 3–month rainfall total at Cape Campbell, coastal Marlborough, and an all time high rainfall for a non-alpine area, Leigh, in Northland, highlighted an autumn of climate extremes.

Tuesday, 7 March 2001
Another summer of extremes
Extremely dry in central New Zealand, wet in Bay Of Plenty
Cool in the south, warm in Aucklnad, Bay Of Plenty and central New Zealand
Nelson sets new New Zealand summer sunshine record
A 2000/2001 summer of climate extremes including droughts, floods and high humidity produced in Nelson a new seasonal sunshine record of 878 hours, 20 percent above normal and a new high for any New Zealand locality since such records began in 1930. Sunshine totals in Marlborough, Buller and north Canterbury were also at least 10 percent above normal.