February 1966: Marked by an unusually high frequency of northeasterly winds. It was cloudy and warm, with excessive rain in northern districts of the North Island. In many areas growth was reported to be exceptional and stock benefited, except for lambs.
[Notes from the weather sequence: The period from the 2nd to the 15th was one of dry settled weather over the greater part of the country and it was also very warm. The one area where the weather was almost continuously unsettled was the West Coast. Much more unsettled conditions dominated the rest of the month].
Rainfall: In Auckland, Waikato, western Bay of Plenty and most of Northland rainfall was 2-5 times the average value. Greatest excesses were recorded near and to the north of Whangarei and near the coast between Auckland and Thames. Elsewhere rainfall was mainly close to or somewhat above average. However in Southland and Otago, Wairarapa and Gisborne it was comparatively dry – in some places totals were only 25% of average. Most of the very heavy rain occurred on two days. The first was the 16th when in thunderstorms daily rainfalls of up to 13” were recorded in Northland and parts of Auckland, with flooding and disruption of transport. The second was in the 24 hours to 9am on 1 March, once again with thunderstorms, and falls of up to 12” in Auckland and Waikato. Serious flooding followed on the Hauraki Plains.
At
Whenuapai Aerodrome, in the evening of the 16th, 4.2” (107mm) of rain were recorded in an hour. This is the highest hourly rainfall ever recorded in New Zealand. [Broken by 109mm at Leigh, 30 May 2001. Whenuapai’s total for the 16th was 10.23”. With the advent of the higher altitude sites in wet zones, the record became 134mm, at
Cropp Waterfall in January 2004].
Temperatures: Temperatures were above average, mainly by 3F-6F. Highest departures were recorded in the Taranaki-Taumarunui-Waitomo area. In some parts it was the warmest February since 1938.
Sunshine: Sunshine was below average over most of the country. Over Buller, Westland, and most of Canterbury the deficiency exceeded 50 hours. The total of
70 hours at Haast was the lowest ever recorded for February in any part of New Zealand. Two areas were favoured with sunshine about average or slightly above. One was Gisborne and Hawkes Bay with parts of Wairarapa; the other was Southland with parts of Central Otago. [
Timaru equalled the low record in February 1974. It still holds, if records from a former Franz Josef site with a very restricted horizon are excluded.]
[Some totals: Kaitaia 179, Kerikeri 149, Whangarei 141, Auckland 168, Tauranga 152, Whakatane 172, Taupo 171, Opotiki 173, Hamilton 159, New Plymouth 171, Masterton 185, Gisborne 222, Napier 211, Wairoa 217, Paraparaumu 160, Ohakea 165, Palmerston North 150, Levin 148, Wellington 158, Stratford 168, Ohakune 164, Wanganui 168, Westport 117, Hokitika 114, Greymouth 101, Haast 70, Riwaka 181, Nelson 181, Blenheim 200, Grassmere 176, Kaikoura 139, Mt Cook 126, Mt John 172, Methven 129, Christchurch 112, Tekapo 168, Timaru 111, Waimate 119, Dunedin Aero 143, Dunedin 144, Oamaru 115, Queenstown 158, Alexandra 192, Invercargill 165, Campbell Is 83, Chatham Is 134].
Sources: NZ Met. Misc. pub. 107 (Climatological table, NZ Gazette) and NZ Met. Misc. pub. 109 (Meteorological Observations) - additional comments by the poster.