Weather Eye with John Maunder

Rainfalls for the month of April have been recorded in Tauranga since 1898 (except for 1904, 1908 and 1909).

The graph shows the range of rainfalls from a high of 383mm in 1911 to a low of 10mm in 1958.

The second wettest April was 1948 when 333mm was recorded, and April 2010 recorded only 12mm. The long-term average rainfall for Tauranga for April is 120mm.

The graph show no significant change in the rainfalls in April over the last 110 years except for small decease in the rainfall over the last 50 years compared with the first 50 years of the record from 133mm to 110mm.

This can be compared with the months of January and February and March over the same 110 years which show small decreases in the January and February and a small increase in March. Since 1898, there have been 17 April months with a rainfall of 200mm or more, but only eight April months with rainfalls of 30mm or less.

The next Weather Eye on April 6 will discuss ‘Climate Change and Villach: What is the connection?'

For further information Google ‘Dr John Maunder'.