January 1958:  As in the 3 previous months strong westerly winds affected most of the country for much of the month. The weather except for the east coast districts of the North Island and Marlborough was cloudier and cooler than usual. Over most of the South Island and the Wellington province rainfall was above normal. Drier than usual conditions in North Auckland, Gisborne and Hawkes Bay have produced feed shortages in some parts.

Rainfall: Rainfall was above average in all South Island areas except Nelson, Marlborough and Southland while in the North Island only Wellington province west of the ranges had more than usual. In parts of Canterbury and the West Coast, more than twice normal rainfall was experienced. On the 23rd-24th Hokitika had 11.49”, causing severe flooding in the town and surrounding areas. The total of 8.58” on the 23rd was the 2nd highest daily fall for Hokitika, exceeded only by 9.17” in February 1935. Ashburton had a severe hailstorm and thunderstorm on the 4th which caused some flooding.

In Auckland and all east coast districts of the North Island rainfalls were below average with many areas in Gisborne, Hawkes Bay and Bay of Plenty having only 10-20% of normal.

Temperatures: Temperatures were below normal by 1F-2F over the whole of the South Island excluding Marlborough and in west coast districts south of Auckland in the North Island. Elsewhere it was 1F-2F warmer than usual. In the first week of the month snowfalls were reported from upland areas of Otago and Canterbury. Towards the end of the month temperatures became higher than normal in Canterbury and Auckland, where on the 29th a section of the main trunk railway line was buckled by heat.

Sunshine: The East Coast of the North Island, Bay of Plenty and Marlborough were the only areas with more sunshine than usual, by up to an hour a day. Over the rest of the country there was up to an hour and a half less sunshine than usual except for Central Otago, where in some parts the deficit was more than two hours. Alexandra’s 166 hours was considerably less than the previous record low of 194 in 1949.

[Some totals: Te Hapua 222, Kaitaia 224, Kerikeri 213, Whangarei 202, Auckland 227, Tauranga 276, Whakatane 282, Taupo 256, Hamilton 231, New Plymouth 197, Masterton 264, Gisborne 289, Napier 278, Paraparaumu 181, Ohakea 216, Palmerston Nth 175, Levin 160, Wellington 218, Wanganui 220, Westport 163, Hokitika 190, Greymouth 160, Haast 172, Nelson 260, Blenheim 286, Grassmere 258, Mt Cook 162, Methven 179, Christchurch 178, Tekapo 188, Timaru 147, Waimate 133, Omarama 162, Dunedin 142, Queenstown 188, Alexandra 166, Invercargill 155, Campbell Is 123, Chatham Is 189].


Sources: NZ Met. Misc. pub. 107 (Climatological table, NZ Gazette) and NZ Met. Misc. pub. 109 (Meteorological Observations) - additional comments by the poster.