NZ weather summary January 1981

[Rwood]

January 1981:   January was a warm month with rainfalls below average except in the north. There was an unusually high frequency of northeasterly winds in the north, the highest in Auckland since 1965. Gale force winds during the 27th in Otago caused some minor damage in Central Otago. Gusts included 45 knots at Alexandra and 80 knots at Nugget Point. Power poles were snapped in Cromwell, with flying gravel reported at Middlemarch.

Rainfall: In Northland, Auckland, Bay of Plenty and northern Gisborne, where rainfall was above average, some Northland areas had over 50% above average rainfall. Over the rest of the country dry conditions were experienced and many districts of both islands had less than 50% of the normal January rainfall. A shallow trough of low pressure in the north-easterly flow over Northland during the 19th-20th brought localized heavy rain to the far north and east. Glenbervie Forest (Whangarei) recorded 96mm, 63mm falling between 9am and 3pm and 39mm between 12 noon and 3pm. Amounts at other northern sites varied from 10mm to 80mm. Below normal rainfall over the South Island made some areas the driest for a number of years. At Musselburgh 17mm of rainfall was the lowest January reading in records dating from 1918.

Some monthly totals (mm): Cape Reinga 161, Glenbervie 245, Waihi 262; Gisborne 26, Wellington Aero 17, Rotoiti 14, Blenheim 9, Ophir 8, Milton 7, Chatham Is 19.

Temperatures:   Mean temperatures were above average by more than 1C in the North Island and in eastern and northern areas of the South Island. Some inland districts of both islands and about Nelson were warmer by more than 2C. The highest recorded temperature of 35.7C occurred on the 27th at Musselburgh (Dunedin), the highest recorded there in any month since records began in 1865.

35.7C maximum at Musselburgh on the 27th, -1.5C minimum at Moa Creek on the 8th.

Sunshine:  In most areas sunshine hours were above average but in parts of the far north and in the far south and southwest they were below.

[Some totals: Kaitaia 228, Waitangi 201, Whangarei 193, Auckland 233, Tauranga 239, Whakatane 241, Rotorua 253, Taupo 225, Auckland Aero 244, Hamilton 240, New Plymouth 225, Masterton 232, Dannevirke 201, Gisborne 242, Napier 232, Wairoa 232, Paraparaumu 248, Ohakea 260, Palmerston North 219, Levin 210, Wellington 251, Stratford 209, Wanganui 243;  Westport 257, Arapito 235, Hokitika 261, Greymouth 247, Nelson 287, Blenheim 257, Grassmere 244, Kaikoura 249, Mt Cook 183, Methven 226, Christchurch 250, Tekapo 279, Timaru 196, Oamaru Aero 184, Omarama 235, Palmerston 175, Dunedin 163, Te Anau 189, Queenstown 211, Cromwell 242, Alexandra 212, Gore 153, Invercargill 162, Raoul Is 118 {2nd lowest}].

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

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