November 1958: It was warm and sunny.  In the Auckland and Hawkes Bay provinces pastures were in good condition after the heavy rain in October. Elsewhere the combination of warm temperatures with 3 months of deficient rainfall led to dry conditions, with some selloff of stock in North Canterbury and Marlborough.

Rainfall: Rainfall was about half the normal over most of the South Island and in western and southern districts of the North Island. In Marlborough it was less than 1/4 of the average. In eastern and northern districts of the Auckland province and in Hawkes Bay a large proportion of the rain fell in thunderstorms. As a result the distribution was patchy, with most of these areas getting about 3/4 of the average, but a few stations receiving double. Thunderstorms were particularly active on the 2nd, 3rd, 9th, 10th and 27th. At Henderson on the afternoon of the 3rd 4.37” of rain fell in 2 1/2 hours, and heavy hail damaged the fruit crops.

Temperatures: As in the previous month, temperatures were well above average over the whole country. Departures were mainly 2F, but Canterbury and Central Otago were 3F-5F warmer than usual. In these areas some high day temperatures were recorded between the 14th and 22nd, the highest being 92.8F (33.8C) at Ashburton on the 22nd [South Island record for November]. Snow was reported in some inland districts of the South Island on the 16th-17th.

Sunshine: Most districts were favoured with about an hour a day more sunshine than usual. Greatest departures were recorded in Wairarapa, Wellington, Marlborough and Canterbury. In the Bay of Plenty-Rotorua-Gisborne and on the West Coast sunshine was close to normal. In parts of Central Otago and in Southland it was somewhat below average.

[Some totals: Te Hapua 258, Kaitaia 240, Kerikeri 237, Whangarei 204, Auckland 218, Tauranga 253, Whakatane 230, Taupo 226, Hamilton 254, New Plymouth 234, Masterton 274, Gisborne 239, Napier 251, Paraparaumu 234, Ohakea 236, Palmerston Nth 205, Levin 190, Wellington 253, Wanganui 233, Westport 210, Hokitika 181, Greymouth 164, Haast 169, Nelson 276, Blenheim 293, Grassmere 275, Mt Cook 178, Methven 262, Christchurch 244, Tekapo 259, Timaru 234, Waimate 222, Omarama 224, Dunedin 190, Queenstown 225, Alexandra 207, Invercargill 157, Campbell Is 93, Chatham Is 170].


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

Yes - possibly a little more "westerly" than Nov 2017 but a lot of similarities. Incidentally, I think the record high North Island Nov. temperature is a little higher than the South Island one quoted here.