Monthly

Rainfall: Extremely wet, with devastating floods, in the centre, south and west of the North Island
Wind: Much windier than usual, especially over the North Island
Temperatures: Below average overall, especially in the South Island
Soil moisture: Significant deficits persist in central Marlborough, Canterbury, and Otago, but surpluses in some North Island areas
Sunshine: Extremely low in the south and west of the North Island
A total of 30 monthly historical rainfall records were swept aside in a number of New Zealand regions during the exceptionally wet February that produced widespread fl

Temperatures: Warm, especially in the east
Rainfall: Dry in parts of Otago and Southland, the Christchurch area and central Marlborough; well above average rainfall in Wairarapa, Hawke’s Bay, Wellington, parts of Northland, the Southern Alps and North Otago
Soil moisture: Significant deficits in parts of eastern Otago, the Christchurch area and central Marlborough
Sunshine: Sunny in the north and east of the North Island, and the south of the South Island; less sunshine than normal in the southwest of the North Island
January was very warm overall, with above normal temperatures in mo

Rainfall: Exceptionally dry in the east of the South Island, especially Canterbury with record low rainfall; above average in central North Island regions
Soil moisture: Significant deficits in Otago, Canterbury, and central Marlborough
Sunshine: Very sunny in the east of the South Island, much cloudier in the north and west of the North Island
Temperatures: Average or above average in most regions except in Westland and Fiordland.
December was extremely dry with very little rainfall and very sunny in the east of the South Island, especially in Canterbury where many sites recorded only 1 mm

Rainfall: Well below average rainfall in parts of Northland, Nelson, Canterbury and Otago; above average in Waikato, Hawke’s Bay, Wairarapa, Fiordland and coastal Southland
Soil moisture: Significant deficits in parts of Otago, Canterbury, central Marlborough, Gisborne and Hawke’s Bay
Temperatures: Below average in many regions
Sunshine: Well above average in Nelson, Canterbury, and north Westland
November was much drier than average in eastern Northland, parts of Nelson, around Christchurch and in some areas of Otago.

Saturday, 1 November 2003
Rainfall: Near or above average over much of the North Island; below average in Hawke’s Bay, Westland, Fiordland, Canterbury, Otago and Southland
Temperatures: Below average temperatures over much of the North Island, and the eastern South Island (Marlborough, Canterbury and Otago)
Sunshine: above average in most regions, especially Southland
October was a month of mixed weather. It was wet and rather unsettled in many areas during the first two weeks. However, mainly dry settled conditions prevailed for the rest of the month.

Wednesday, 1 October 2003
Rainfall: Extremely high in many areas, especially in Taranaki, King Country, Wanganui, Gisborne, Hawke’s Bay, Wairarapa, Kaikoura, Canterbury and north Otago; dry in Dunedin and South Otago
Temperatures: Above average temperatures over much of the North Island, especially Northland, Auckland, Bay of Plenty, Gisborne and Hawke’s Bay; below average in the southwest of the South Island especially south Westland, Fiordland and Central Otago
Sunshine: Below average in Northland, Gisborne, and Central Otago
September was a month of extremes.

Monday, 1 September 2003
Sunshine: Well above average in Southland and Westland
Rainfall: Less than half average in many inland and western regions, especially Manawatu, Horowhenua, and inland south Canterbury; wet in some areas exposed to the east, especially central Hawke’s Bay
Temperatures: Average or above average temperatures in many areas, colder in parts of Central and South Otago
August was more settled, and much drier than average in many inland and western regions, with wetter than usual conditions in some areas exposed to the east, and colder than usual conditions in parts

Friday, 1 August 2003
Sunshine: More than normal sunshine across the country, except for Auckland
Rainfall: Below average in most regions, especially Bay of Plenty, Marlborough and Nelson; wet along the Southland coast
Temperatures: Below average in most places and frostier than normal in many areas
July was colder, sunnier, and more settled and frosty than average, with well below average rainfall in most areas, especially parts of Marlborough and Nelson where July was the driest in more than 60 years of measurement. A severe snowstorm swept the country over 4–5 July.

Tuesday, 1 July 2003
Temperatures: Warmest June on record
Rainfall: Very dry in Canterbury, and significantly below average rainfall in parts of Gisborne and Hawke’s Bay; extremely wet in Nelson with above average rainfall in all western regions from Waikato to Fiordland
Sunshine: Sunny in most eastern regions, below average totals in the west of the North Island from Northland to Manawatu
June was the warmest ever recorded in New Zealand since records began over 150 years ago, with mean temperatures 2.0°C above normal.

Sunday, 1 June 2003
Sunny with well below average rainfall in Waikato, Wanganui, Manawatu, Wellington, Wairarapa, Westland, Fiordland, Marlborough, Alpine areas, Otago and Southland
Significant soil moisture deficits persist in Wanganui, Manawatu, Horowhenua, South Canterbury and Central Otago
Above average rainfall in Bay of Islands, Coromandel, and north and central Canterbury
Warmer in parts of Auckland, Bay of Plenty, Waikato, and Buller, but colder in Wellington, Wairarapa, Marlborough, Canterbury, Otago and Southland
May was much warmer than average over all of New Zealand, and rainfa

Thursday, 1 May 2003
Sunny with well below average rainfall in Waikato, Wanganui, Manawatu, Wellington, Wairarapa, Westland, Fiordland, Marlborough, Alpine areas, Otago and Southland
Significant soil moisture deficits persist in Wanganui, Manawatu, Horowhenua, South Canterbury and Central Otago
Above average rainfall in Bay of Islands, Coromandel, and north and central Canterbury
Warmer in parts of Auckland, Bay of Plenty, Waikato, and Buller, but colder in Wellington, Wairarapa, Marlborough, Canterbury, Otago and Southland
April was a month of regional contrasts.

Tuesday, 1 April 2003
Exceptionally dry in Wanganui, Manawatu, Wairarapa, and Otago
End of month rainfall brings relief to areas in extreme soil moisture deficit in Canterbury, but Wanganui, Manawatu, Horowhenua, Marlborough and Otago still in significant deficit
Record high rainfall in parts of Northland
The warmest month of the year with record high mean temperatures in inland Otago
The sunniest March ever in Kapiti, Wellington, and Dunedin, and extremely sunny over the rest of central and southern parts
For much of New Zealand, March was a month of new records produced by very settled, e

Sunday, 2 March 2003
Below average rainfall in Nelson, and many North Island areas
Significant soil moisture deficits affects many regions
High end-of-month rainfall in eastern Northland, Coromandel and parts of Gisborne – floods at Paeroa
Extremely sunny in the east
Below average temperatures persist in most regions
Unseasonably early frosts
Waikato, Taranaki, and Nelson all received less than a quarter (25 percent) of their normal February rainfall last month, while less than half (50 percent) of average rain fell in northwestern parts of Northland, and most central and southwestern

Saturday, 1 February 2003
Above average rainfall in the north of the North Island, but dry elsewhere
Significant soil moisture deficits now in Manawatu, Horowhenua, Gisborne and Hawke’s Bay
Cool
January was a dry month for much of the country. Rainfall was less than half of normal in the southwest of the North Island and Hawke’s Bay, and about a quarter in the Horowhenua. Only half normal rainfall also occurred in central Marlborough.

Thursday, 6 January 2003
Below average rainfall persists in eastern Northland and Bay of Plenty, dry in Canterbury and eastern Otago
Significant soil moisture deficits in eastern Marlborough, Canterbury and most of Otago
Above average rainfall in parts of Taranaki and Marlborough, and the southwest of the South Island
Sunny in the east of the South Island and Hawke’s Bay
For much of the country, December was a sunnier, drier than average month in many eastern regions and cloudier and wetter than usual in some western districts.
Rainfall was above average for the first time in six mont

Sunday, 1 December 2002
Windy and cold, below average temperatures persist
Below average rainfall persists in Marlborough and Bay of Plenty; low rainfall also in Northland
Wet in mid and north Canterbury
Sunny in Northland and Westland
For much of the country, November was a cold and windy month, the first three weeks being dominated by almost relentless winds from the south and west. Temperatures, as with October, continued well below average, with little of the normal spring warming until the end of November, due to frequent periods of cold south-westerlies and southerlies.

Friday, 1 November 2002
The coldest October since 1982, with below average temperatures almost everywhere
Extremely sunny with below average rainfall in many regions
Wet in the east north of Gisborne and in the far south
October received more than the usual number of cold snaps, keeping temperatures well below normal in many areas. Ground frosts occurred with twice their normal frequency in inland parts of Bay of Plenty and Canterbury.

Tuesday, 1 October 2002
Record strong westerlies for September
In many eastern areas: sunny and unusually warm with below average rainfall
In the west: high rainfall, cloudy, wet and unsettled
Very strong west to north westerlies during September resulted in dry, sunny, windy, and unusually warm conditions, with 75 percent (three quarters) or less of normal rainfall, in many eastern areas of both islands. In contrast, wet, cloudy and unsettled conditions occurred on the West Coast, including coastal Southland, Southern Lakes and alpine areas, as well as Taranaki and King Country.

Sunday 1 September 2002
Average or below average rainfall in many regions
Wet in the southwest of the South Island
Mild overall in most regions
Sunny in the south and east of the North Island and northwest of the South Island
Much drier conditions than normal occurred in the northeast of the South Island in August for the second consecutive month accompanied by unsettled and wetter than normal conditions in the southwest of the South Island.

Thursday 1 August 2002
Well below average rainfall over much of the South Island
Average or above average rainfall over the North Island
Rather mild in the North Island and northern South Island
Rather sunny in the far south
Above average to average rainfall in the North Island was accompanied by very dry conditions in much of the South Island in July. The driest regions in the South Island were Nelson, Marlborough, Canterbury and Central Otago, with totals less than 25 percent (quarter) of average.

Monday 1 July 2002
One of the warmest Junes on record despite a period of freezing wintry conditions and record low temperatures in the South Island
Wet in many regions, especially parts of Coromandel and the West Coast
Below average rainfall in Gisborne
Sunny in parts of the east, very cloudy in northern and western regions
Floods and heavy snowfall
In spite of the weather extremes of heavy snowfall and severe frost in the South Island and torrential rain in both islands, the month of June was about as warm as it gets at that time of year on the basis of historical records going back to th

Monday 3 June 2002
Exceptionally mild for much of the time, but wintry conditions toward the end of the month, especially in the south
Very dry in the east
Above average rainfall in the far north and south
Very sunny in Gisborne and Wellington
May was a month of autumnal contrasts across much New Zealand. Overall temperatures were well above average during the first three weeks, even summer-like on a few days. The month’s major weather events were associated with a deep depression that tracked across the South Island on the 23rd and then became slow moving to the east.

Wednesday, 1 May 2002
Drier in western regions, above average rainfall in parts of Bay of Plenty and the eastern South Island
Warm and sunny in the west of the South Island, average or below average temperatures and sunshine elsewhere
April brought large contrasts between western and eastern areas of New Zealand. Below average rainfall with above normal temperatures and abundant sunshine occurred in the west, particularly on the South Island West Coast. Above average rainfall and below average sunshine featured in the east of the South Island.

Monday, 1 April 2002
Very dry in many eastern regions
Sunny almost everywhere
Near average temperatures for most regions
In contrast to summer, low rainfall, especially in eastern regions, along with sunny conditions almost everywhere, were the main features of the climate during March.
It was very dry in the east from Gisborne to Otago, including Bay of Plenty, Taupo and Nelson, where many sites recorded 50 percent (half) or less of their normal March rainfall. Gisborne Airport’s March rainfall was only 12 mm, the 3rd equal lowest there for March in more than 95 years.