Current climate – February 2015

February 2015 was characterised by higher air pressures than normal over and to the south and west of New Zealand, which caused a weak south-westerly airflow anomaly over the country.

Rainfall

The predominance of anticyclones (highs) during the month was reflected in rainfalls for the month as a whole, which were well below normal (< 50% of the February normal) or below normal (50-79% of the February normal) for most of New Zealand, except for parts of the South Island around Central Otago and Southland, where rainfall was above normal (120-149% of the February normal) or well above normal (> 149% of February normal).

Temperature

February temperatures were near average overall for most of the country (within 0.5°C of the February average). However, pockets of well below average temperatures (< 1.20°C below the February average) occurred in the King Country, Ruapehu, and southern Hawkes Bay. Temperatures were also below average (0.51-1.20°C below the February average) in scattered parts of: Waikato, Bay of Plenty, Wairarapa, Gisborne, Hawkes Bay, Wellington, Westland, Marlborough, Nelson, Canterbury, and Otago.

Sunshine

It was a sunny month for western and central areas of the South Island, where well above normal sunshine totals for February were recorded (> 125%). For the remainder of the country, sunshine totals were mostly near normal (within 10% of February normal).

Soil Moisture

As of 1 March 2015, soil moisture levels were below normal for the time of year for extensive areas of New Zealand, with the exception of the Central Plateau and Whanganui areas of the North Island and Central Otago and northern Southland in the South Island.