Feature article
Exceptional conditions in May
Autumn rainfall (above) and days of soil moisture deficit (below) at Napier Airport. The black smoothed curves are added to aid interpretation of trends in the data.
Grazing the water hole. Many east coast small dams were unusually dry in the May drought. (Photo: Richard Hilson)
Temperature and rainfall
New Zealand was warmer in May than for the same month at any time in the 140–year instrumental record.