Weather Eye with John Maunder

Climate extremes in New Zealand, since instrumental records became available in the 1850s, show a range from the highest temperature of 42.4 degrees recorded in Rangiora on February 7, 1973, to the most intense rainfall in 10 minutes which occurred in Tauranga on April 17, 1948.

Each year, the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research updates the weather extremes recorded in New Zealand since observations were officially recorded in the 1850s. The current extremes – up to December 2010 – include the following:

Wettest: 34mm in 10 minutes in Tauranga on April 17 1948. 134mm in one hour in the Hokitka Catchment. This site also has the records for the highest 24 hours fall of 758mm on December 27/28, 1989, the highest 48 hour fall of 1049mm on December 11/12/13, 1995, the highest fall in a calendar month of 2827mm in December 1995, and the highest fall in a calendar year of 16,617mm in 1998.

Driest: Only 9mm of rain fell at Cape Campbell (Marlborough) from January to March 2001, the driest three-months ever recorded in New Zealand. The driest six months was also at Cape Campbell from November 2000 to April 2001 when only 52mm of rain was recorded. The driest 12 months was in Alexandra from November 1963 to October 1964, when only 167mm was recorded. The longest period without rain is 71 days, which occurred in Wai-iti, Marlbough from February 8 1939.

Warmest: Until 1973, the highest temperatures officially recorded in New Zealand was 101.3 degrees Fahrenheit (38.4 degrees Celsius) at Ashburton and Darfield on January 19, 1956. However, under extreme northwesterly conditions on February 7, 1973, 42.4 degrees C (108.3 degrees Fahrenheit) was recorded at Rangiora. A temperature of 42.3 degree C was also recorded on this day at Jordan, Marlborough.

Coldest: The coldest air temperature ever recorded was -25.6 degrees C in Eweburn, Ranfurly on July 17, 1903. The lowest grass temperature is -21.6 degrees C recorded at Lake Tekapo on August 4, 1938.

Sunniest: Nelson, Takaka, Riwaka, Blenheim, Lake Tekapo, Tauranga and Whakatane often appear in the list of very sunny places in New Zealand, but officially, Nelson has recorded the most sunshine in any one year with 2711 hours in 1931, with Blenheim recording 2673 hours in 1961. In contrast, only 1333 hours of sunshine was recorded in Invercargill in 1983. For one month, the sunniest location is Nelson with 336 hours in December 1934, and the least sunny location is Taumaranui with only 27 hours in June 2002.

Wind Gust: The highest wind gusts recorded in New Zealand were 250 km/h at Mt John, Canterbury on April 17, 1970 and 248 km/h at Hawkins Hill, Wellington on November 6, 1959, and July 4, 1962.

The next Weather Eye on March 23 will show a graph of the rainfall in Tauranga for April from 1898-2011. For further information Google ‘Dr John Maunder'.