The fine, dry weather the Bay of Plenty experienced in January looks set to continue throughout the remainder of February.

According to the NIWA (National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research) climate summary, January 2015 was characterised by air pressures which were higher than normal over the country.

NIWA is predicting a warm February for the Bay of Plenty.

The air pressures were accompanied by an anomalous north-easterly airflow.

'This pressure pattern resulted in an abundance of dry, warm and sunny weather during the month for most areas of the country,” says NIWA.

It was a particularly warm month for parts of the Bay of Plenty, Taranaki, West Coast, Canterbury and Central Otago, where temperature anomalies exceeded +2C of the January average.

The nationwide average temperature in January 2015 was 18.2C (1.1C above the 1981-2010 January average from NIWA's seven station temperature series which began in 1909).

NIWA says the predominance of anticyclones (highs) was reflected in rainfalls for January as a whole, which were well below normal (less than 50 per cent of the January normal) or below normal (50-79 per cent of the January normal) for most areas of the country.

'It was exceptionally dry in parts of Northland, Auckland, Taranaki, Manawatu-Whanganui, Kapiti Coast, Wellington, Marlborough, north Canterbury and Central Otago where rainfall totals for the month were less than 10 per cent of the respective January normal,” they add.

NIWA is predicting February's weather to be on par as it was in 2014.

Sea temperatures are forecast to be in above normal all around the country and air temperatures are likely to be in the above normal range for all regions in New Zealand.

'Rainfall is most likely to be in the near-normal range in the north of the North Island and the north and west of the South Island,” says NIWA's climate summary.

'In the east and west of the North Island, the coming season's rainfall is about equally likely to be near or above normal.”

Soil moisture levels are most likely to be below normal in the east of the South Island and about equally likely to be near-normal or below normal in all regions of the North Island and the west of the South Island.

Soil moisture levels are most likely to be near normal in the north of the South Island.

NIWA predicts river flows are most likely to be below normal in the east of the South Island and about equally likely to be near or below normal in the north and west of the North Island and the west of the South Island.

Near-normal river flows are likely in the east of the North Island and the north of the South Island.