Weather Eye with John Maunder

Rainfalls for the month of May have been recorded in Tauranga since 1898 (except for 1904, 1907, 1908, and 1909).

The graph shows the range of rainfalls from an extreme high of 634mm in 2005 to a low of 13mm in 2001. The second wettest May was 1950 when 311mm was recorded, and the second driest May was in 1918 when only 24mm fell. The long-term average rainfall for Tauranga for May is 124mm.

Apart from the exceptional rainfall of 634mm in May 2005 (such a rainfall in Tauranga in May is likely to occur only about twice every 1000 years), the graph show a small decrease in the overall May rainfalls over the last 50 years (1961-2010) from an average of 115mm, compared with an average of 126mm over the 50 years from 1911-1960.

This is similar to the months of January and February and April for the same periods, which also show small decreases in the overall rainfalls during the last 100 years, compared with a small increase in the March rainfalls.

Since 1898, there have been 14 May months with a rainfall of 200mm or more, but only four May months with rainfalls of 30mm or less.

For further information Google "Dr John Maunder".