February 1977:   During February pressures were higher than normal over the whole of New Zealand for the first time in several months. Rainfall was below normal over most of the country, the month being rather sunny in most areas. There were two spells of wintry weather on the 11/12 and 22/23 when daily maximum temperatures were well below normal over most of the country. Farming conditions became very dry in many parts of the North Island.

Rainfall: Rainfall was below the normal value with the exception of parts of Taranaki, Manawatu, Wellington, Wairarapa, Hawkes Bay, Nelson, Marlborough, South Canterbury and Southland. Parts of Hawkes Bay received nearly 4 times the average value while some stations in Northland received only 15% of the normal. Fiordland and Westland received only 40-50%
of the normal. Almost all places north of Hamilton and Tauranga had less than half the normal rain. There were heavy falls of rain in Hawkes Bay on the 23rd and 24th when 190mm was recorded at Wairoa in the 48 hours to 9am on the 24th. One station near Wairoa had 230mm in 24 hours on the 23rd/24th. Major flooding in Wairoa was caused by the Tawhaara Stream breaking its banks, and many slips closed the road from Gisborne to Napier.

Some monthly totals (mm): Waikaremoana 265, Frasertown 379, Kelburn 166, Rai Valley 189; Whangarei 18, Thames 22, Hamilton 34, Oamaru Aero 14, Dunedin 27.

Temperatures:  Temperatures were slightly above normal over most of the northern half of the North Island. Parts of Hawkes Bay, Wairarapa and Wellington were 0.5C to 1C below normal. In the South Island, the West Coast, Otago and parts of Canterbury were above by as much as 0.5C, but other areas were below normal by the same amount.
 
35.4C maximum at Waiau on the 14th, -1.3C minimum at Mahinerangi Dam on the 3rd.

Sunshine:  Sunshine was above or near normal over the whole country. Some areas in Northland, Auckland, Taranaki, Westland, Canterbury and Otago had nearly 50 hours more sunshine than normal. Some parts of Hawkes Bay had slightly less than the average hours of sunshine for the month.

[Some totals: Kaitaia 239, Dargaville 225, Whangarei 202, Auckland 249, Tauranga 240, Whakatane 244, Rotorua 225, Taupo 232,  Hamilton 220, Te Kuiti 213, Taumarunui 224, New Plymouth 250, Masterton 229, Dannevirke 210, Gisborne 241, Napier 220, Wairoa 205, Paraparaumu 226, Ohakea 252, Palmerston North 211, Levin 222, Wellington 222, Stratford 262, Wanganui 256, Westport 249, Hokitika 206, Greymouth 211, Riwaka 246, Nelson 244, Blenheim 270, Grassmere 242, Kaikoura 218, Mt Cook 196, Mt John 266, Methven 218, Christchurch 233, Tekapo 257, Timaru 188, Oamaru Aero 193, Omarama 238, Palmerston 202, Dunedin 193, Te Anau 200, Queenstown 227, Alexandra 216, Gore 204, Invercargill 161].

Sources: NZ Met. Misc. pub. 107 (Climatological table, NZ Gazette) and NZ Met. Misc. pub. 109 (Meteorological Observations).