February 1978: During February pressures were higher than normal over the whole of New Zealand, with a predominance of winds from a westerly quarter over the South Island, and easterly to the north of the country. The only areas with rainfall totals appreciably above normal were parts of Poverty Bay and Hawkes Bay, the rest of the country experiencing dry conditions for the second successive month. Some areas had substantial rainfalls during the month, but these were mainly of very short duration and did little to relieve the drought conditions. Over the major part of the country this was a warm, dry, sunny month. On the 17th water spouts estimated to be 100 metres high were seen in the Awanui Harbour, Northland.
Rainfall: The only areas with rainfall above normal were parts of Northland, Poverty Bay and Hawkes Bay. Some stations had totals of between 50 and 100 percent above normal and Gisborne recorded more than 200% above. Some parts of Taranaki, Manawatu, Marlborough, and Canterbury had less than 10% of their normal rainfall. Flooding occurred in Gisborne when an exceptionally heavy thunderstorm passed over the area. Between 6am and 6pm more than 140mm of rain was recorded at Gisborne Aerodrome. At Taupo on the morning of the 5th, hail 13mm in diameter was reported to have destroyed many gardens in the area. During the evening of the 16th many suburbs of Auckland were flooded when more than 10mm was recorded in 2 hours. The southern motorway was littered with stranded cars and many homes were flooded. At Cromwell, the 14 months January 1977-February 1978 were the driest since records began in 1950. In each of these months rainfall totals were below normal. For the year 1977 only 67% of normal was recorded and for the 14-month period 64%.
Some monthly totals (mm): Waitangi 131, Waipukurau 98, Gisborne 189, Napier 90; Cape Reinga 11, Hamilton Aero 14, New Plymouth 12, Pahiatua 8, Paraparaumu 2, Stratford 10, Hokitika 77, Grassmere 1, Tekapo 2.
Temperatures: Apart from some areas in Northland, Southland, and coastal Otago temperatures were above normal by at least 1C throughout the majority of New Zealand. In parts of Waikato, Bay of Plenty, Central Districts, Manawatu, and Canterbury mean temperatures were above average by more than 2C. The warmest days were the 10th and 13th, with colder spells on the 5th, 16th-17th and 25th/27th.
34.7C maximum at Ashburton on the 10th,
0.4C minimum at Borland Burn on the 17th.
Sunshine: Sunshine was above normal throughout the country, the largest departures being in Westland and Canterbury. At Christchurch and Hokitika the highest February totals since the stations began in 1949 and 1964 respectively, were recorded. The total sunshine recorded at Wellington for January and February this year is the highest since city records began in 1907.
[Some totals: Kaitaia 230, Waitangi 232, Whangarei 203, Auckland 254, Tauranga 220, Whakatane 226, Rotorua 225, Taupo 207, Te Kauwhata 214, Hamilton 221, Taumarunui 200, New Plymouth 250, Masterton 250, Dannevirke 234, Gisborne 211, Napier 211, Wairoa 208, Paraparaumu 250, Ohakea 260, Palmerston North 262, Levin 240, Wellington 261, Stratford 230, Wanganui 243, Westport 250, Hokitika 238, Greymouth 231, Riwaka 281, Nelson 276, Blenheim 288, Grassmere 278, Kaikoura 249, Mt Cook 208, Mt John 276, Methven 242, Christchurch 244, Tekapo 266, Timaru 211, Oamaru Aero 201, Omarama 241, Palmerston 203, Dunedin 197, Te Anau 200, Queenstown 222, Alexandra 243, Gore 205, Invercargill 167].
Sources: NZ Met. Misc. pub. 107 (Climatological table, NZ Gazette) and NZ Met. Misc. pub. 109 (Meteorological Observations).
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February 15, 2012, 01:09:57 PM