June 1984: June was very mild, and dry in most areas. The north of the country had its lowest frequency of strong winds for June since 1966 but they were a little more frequent than usual in the south. The south of the country recorded the highest frequency of north-westerly winds since 1959, with just over half of all winds from that quarter. Gale force winds caused widespread power cuts in the Gisborne area on the 6th. Pressures were very high over the whole country this month.
Rainfall: With the exception of the East Cape-Gisborne region and the northwest Nelson, Westland and Fiordland regions, the whole country was drier than usual for June. Hawkes Bay and Wairarapa were exceptionally dry, with many stations reporting less than 10% of normal rainfall. Napier and Waipukurau both had 8mm, the least for June since 1933 and 1940 respectively. In contrast the area between East Cape and Wairoa was wet, mainly due to heavy rainfalls on the 6th-7th, the result of a deep depression off East Cape. Among stations recording heavy falls on the 6th were: Te Puia Springs (197mm), Ruangarehu (190mm) and Te Karaka (160mm). Estimated return periods for falls in coastal areas were mostly 5-10 years, but in the vicinity of 20 years for inland areas. Many roads were closed by slips. The northwest Nelson region was very dry until the 29th, when falls of 90-120mm brought the rainfall for the month to normal or above normal.
Some totals (mm): East Cape 202, Totaranui 167, Punakaiki 370, Otira 457, West Arm 394; Albert Park 68, New Plymouth 94, Napier Aero 6, Hastings 5, Kelburn 38, Culverden 4, Ashburton 7.
Temperatures: Mean temperatures indicate that, for much of the country, this was the warmest June since 1971. Temperatures were above normal everywhere. The north Auckland peninsula, the east of the North Island and Fiordland were up to 1.0C warmer than usual, while the rest of the country was between 1.0C and 2.5C warmer than normal. The period between the 8th and 12th was particularly mild, with mean temperatures 6C-8C above average in many areas. Stations recording above 20C in this period included on the 9th Vernon Lagoons (22.0C), Grassmere (21.5C) and Blenheim (20.7C). Napier reached 22.0C on the 10th.
23.1C maximum at Napier Airport on the 10th,
-9.7C minimum at Ranfurly on the 24th.
Sunshine: Eastern areas from Gisborne to Dunedin were sunnier than normal this month, while northern and western areas of both islands were very cloudy. Hokitika (59 hrs) and Ohakea (71 hrs) had their lowest June totals in records from 1935 and 1964 respectively. Among places recording the greatest departures were: Gisborne Aero (+29 hrs), Dunedin Aero (+25 hrs), Christchurch (+21 hrs), Hokitika (-56 hrs), Ohakea (-41 hrs), and Kaitaia (-26 hrs).
[Some totals: Kaitaia 101, Waitangi 85, Whangarei 79, Leigh 68, Auckland 80, Tauranga 123, Whakatane 149, Rotorua 120, Taupo 105, Auckland Aero 85 Hamilton 80, New Plymouth 97, Masterton 140, Dannevirke 122, Gisborne 153, Napier 154, Wairoa 147, Paraparaumu 104, Ohakea 71, Palmerston North 64, Levin 65, Wellington 122, Stratford 108, Wanganui 86, Westport 74, Arapito 57, Hokitika 59, Greymouth 55, Nelson 133, Blenheim 142, Grassmere n/a, Kaikoura 144, Mt Cook 72, Methven 136, Christchurch 141, Timaru 119, Oamaru Aero 123, Omarama 132, Palmerston 133, Dunedin Aero 122, Dunedin 117, Te Anau 86, Queenstown 87, Cromwell 118, Alexandra 103, Gore 100, Invercargill 70,
Campbell Is 1.5 (2nd lowest)].
Sources: NZ Met. Misc. pub. 107 (Climatological table, NZ Gazette) and NZ Met. Misc. pub. 109 (Meteorological Observations).
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May 21, 2012, 08:09:29 PM