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Author Topic: NZ weather summary May 1978  (Read 4302 times)

Offline Rwood

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NZ weather summary May 1978
« on: February 15, 2012, 01:09:57 PM »
May 1978:   Pressures were above normal over the whole country, unusually high on the east coast of the South Island and to the south of the country. Winds were predominantly easterly over the North Island and south to southwest over the South Island. It was warmer and drier than usual in most districts, the only regions with appreciably above normal rainfall being Westland, Fiordland, and parts of Northland and Southland. Grass growth was good in most areas, but some parts were too dry.

Rainfall: The only areas with rainfall above normal were parts of Northland, Taranaki, Wellington, Marlborough, Canterbury, Otago, Southland and the West Coast. Some districts in the Bay of Plenty and Waikato had less than 10% of their normal month’s total. Unusually heavy falls were recorded at Milford Sound on the 11th/12th, more than 280mm in 12 hours, and on the 30th/31st, 415mm in 24 hours. The latter was the highest 24-hour fall there since February 1958. [The Milford total is still its highest for May; 45 times the amount in June].

Widespread flooding occurred in northern and western districts of Southland on the 30th/31st. Dipton had 51mm in 24 hours. The Aparima river was reported to have risen nearly 4 metres above its normal level at Dunrobin. Many roads were closed throughout the region. [This was the first of several major flood events that occurred in Southland and South/West Otago over the next several years].

Some totals: 1338mm rainfall at Milford, 579mm at Mt Cook, 128mm at Queenstown; 10mm at Te Aroha, 21mm at Ruakura.

Temperatures: Temperatures were above normal over most of the country for the 5th consecutive month. The only areas slightly lower than usual were parts of Bay of Plenty, central districts of the North Island, and Hawkes Bay. Some areas in Canterbury, Otago and Southland were above normal by more than 1.5C. A warm spell midmonth, with maximum temperatures more than 5C above normal, was followed by a prolonged cold spell from the 17th to the 25th.

27.3C maximum at Christchurch Aero on the 12th, -6.6C minimum at Ophir on the 25th.

Sunshine: Sunshine hours were above normal over the northern half of the North Island and in parts of Nelson and Westland. Hokitika and Westport recorded nearly 30 hours more than normal. Many areas east of the main ranges had significantly below normal sunshine hours.

[Some totals: Kaitaia 151, Waitangi 108, Auckland 151, Tauranga 157, Whakatane 166, Rotorua 164, Taupo 139, Hamilton 149, Taumarunui 114, New Plymouth 160, Masterton 100, Gisborne 114, Napier 115, Paraparaumu 124, Palmerston North 89, Levin 126, Wellington 92, Stratford 126, Wanganui 128, Westport 155, Hokitika 156, Greymouth 134, Riwaka 146, Nelson 168, Blenheim 145, Kaikoura 97, Mt Cook 73, Methven 110, Christchurch 101, Tekapo 121, Timaru 122, Oamaru Aero 115, Palmerston 103, Dunedin 73, Te Anau 95, Queenstown 95, Alexandra 114, Invercargill 81, Campbell Is 8.

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




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