Climate news

Across the North Island, soil moisture levels increased in many places during the past week. In the South Island, soil moisture levels generally decreased in the east and a slightly increased in the west.

Across the North Island, soil moisture levels decreased everywhere during the past week due to meagre rainfall and above average temperatures. The most significant decreases were observed across the northern half of the North Island, where soil moisture levels are now below normal nearly everywhere from Northland to Waikato and Bay of Plenty.

This weekend, after a rather cool October, the beginning of November brings out the heat.

We’re here already – the shortest day is tomorrow (Saturday) and after this, it gets progressively lighter out to the longest day of the year in December.

If you’re planning a visit to the National Agricultural Fieldays at Mystery Creek this week, here’s what you can expect from the weather.

Thermal images taken by a NIWA scientist during this year’s aerial survey of South Island glaciers have revealed in extraordinary detail how heat in the surrounding landscape is affecting the ice.