As of 17 February, the New Zealand Drought Index (NZDI) map below shows that meteorological drought conditions are now in place across parts of Nelson, Tasman, and the Aupouri Peninsula, along with widespread dry to extremely dry conditions. Only minimal improvements are possible in the next week. Please note: some hotspots in the text above may not correspond with the NZDI map, mainly because the NZDI uses additional dryness indices including one which integrates the rainfall deficit over the past 60 days. Changes are therefore slower to appear in the NZDI compared to the instantaneous status maps of soil moisture anomaly.