Tauranga was warmer, sunnier and wetter over summer, according to NIWA’s climate summary.
The city was also the sunniest of New Zealand’s six main centres, with 771 hours of sunshine recorded between December 2009 and the end of February.

NIWA climate scientist Andrew Tait says Tauranga’s sunshine hours over this period was 10 per cent higher than normal.
The sunniest place in New Zealand was Kaitaia, which had 816 sunshine hours over summer.
The average temperature over that period was 19.7 degrees, one degree higher than the long term average.
A total of 260mm of rain fell in Tauranga over the three months, up from the average of 238mm.
NIWA’s outlook for March through until the end of May shows there is a 50 per cent chance of average rainfall and temperature.
Andrew says the average temperature in Tauranga over this period ranges from 14.2 degrees to 14.7 degrees.
Average rainfall for March to May ranges from 285mm to 385mm. Below average rainfall is 233mm to 285mm.