Current Climate - September 2012
Spring westerlies arrived during the first few days of September, and prevailed during the first half of the month. These stormy westerly quarter winds produced very wet conditions on the West Coast of the South Island, but in contrast, a rather dry month in eastern areas of both islands. From mid-month, a pattern change saw more anticyclones than usual lie over New Zealand and to the east of the country. This combination of patterns resulted in more northwest winds than normal over New Zealand for the month of September, overall.