Current climate: December 2017
December 2017 was characterised by higher than normal sea level pressure over New Zealand and the surrounding seas.
New Zealand Climate Update 223 - January 2018
15 January 2018
What happened in December, how our climate outlook for the previous three months turned out, global and local sea temperatures, and our outlook for January - March.
Download the NZ Climate Update 223 January 2018 [PDF 1 MB].
Global setting: December 2017
Weak La Niña conditions persisted in the tropical Pacific during December 2017.
Outlook: January-March 2018
January – March 2018 temperatures are forecast to be above average, with high confidence (65% to 70% chance) for all regions of New Zealand.
Retrospective: October-December 2017 Outlook
For October – December 2017, the atmospheric circulation around New Zealand was forecast to be characterized by lower pressure than normal northwest of New Zealand and higher pressure than normal to the south and east of the country.