As of 25 March, the New Zealand Drought Index (NZDI) map shows that meteorological drought conditions have developed in western Bay of Plenty. Very dry to extremely dry soils are in place across parts of Nelson, Tasman, Buller, and Marlborough along with large areas of the upper North Island and parts of lower North Island. 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.