March 1976:   Pressures were unusually high over New Zealand and exceptionally high over the Chatham Islands. It was a dry month, especially up to the 27th. For a period of 6 weeks beginning about 12-15 February and ending on 26 or 27 March the greater part of the country received less than 20mm of rain. Pasture growth was affected, but good rains from 28th to 30th March brought some relief, though parts of the South Island were still very dry at the end of the month, especially in Otago.

Rainfall: The only considerable areas with rainfall somewhat above normal were Manawatu and most of the Marlborough Sounds. In the North Island rainfall averaged 2/3 of the normal value, in the South Island only a little over a half. In the North Island the driest area relative to normal was Northland; in the South Island it was Otago, where most stations had less than 1/4 of the normal value. For the first 3 months of the year Dunedin Airport received only 73mm, Naseby Forest 74mm, and Lake Hawea 46mm. Much of Otago has had the lowest rainfall for these 3 months since 1920.

Some monthly totals (mm): Kaitaia 14, Albert Park 26, New Plymouth 78, Christchurch 15, Tekapo 12, Dunedin Airport 8, Alexandra 5; Levin 107, Milford 570, Rai Valley 169.

Temperatures:  March was warmer than February. Temperatures were close to normal, except in Northland and Auckland, where they were up to 1C above normal. The warmest part of the month was from the 18th to the 25th, and in some areas this was the warmest spell of weather since March 1975.

32.7C maximum at Timaru Aero on the 8th, -4.2C minimum at Ranfurly and Twizel on the 24th.

Sunshine:   Sunshine was below normal by about 30 hours in an area extending from Bay of Plenty and Gisborne through Taupo and Taihape to South Taranaki. On the other hand, some areas east of the ranges in the South Island were favoured with the same amount above normal.

[Some totals: Kaitaia 153, Dargaville 162, Whangarei 124, Leigh 158, Auckland 180, Tauranga 145, Whakatane 183,Taupo 167, Hamilton 170, Taumarunui 174, New Plymouth 172, Masterton 180, Gisborne 168, Napier 193, Wairoa 200, Paraparaumu 183, Palmerston North 192, Levin 164, Wellington 190, Manaia 147, Wanganui 184, Westport 146, Hokitika 158, Greymouth 155, Haast 164, Riwaka 198, Nelson 193, Blenheim 227, Kaikoura 198, Mt Cook 139, Methven 170, Christchurch 185, Tekapo 220, Timaru 143, Oamaru 167, Omarama 202, Dunedin 168, Te Anau 162, Queenstown 179, Alexandra 195, Gore 162, Invercargill 127, Raoul Is 109 (2nd lowest), Chatham Is 88 (3rd lowest)].

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