NZ weather summary May 1984

[Rwood]

May 1984:   Cool and dry over most of New Zealand. Winds in the north were close to normal for May. In the south there were significantly fewer northwesterly winds than usual and more light winds than normal for May. High winds in the Bay of Plenty and Hawkes Bay on the 1st and 2nd caused some kiwifruit and apple losses, and caused extensive power cuts and minor damage in the Thames area on the 24th. Pressures were higher than normal over the whole country this month. Most farmers reported excellent stock health until the end of the month when extensive frosts slowed growth considerably.

Rainfall: Most of the country was drier than usual. The only areas with average or above average rainfall were isolated coastal areas in Northland and Gisborne in the North Island, and some eastern coastal areas, Otago and Southland in the South Island. These areas generally had between normal and 150% of normal rainfall. The Bay of Plenty region was quite dry with many stations below 50% of normal, while the rest of the North Island had between about 50% and 80% of normal. In the South Island most stations were also between 50% and 80%.

195mm at Beaumont, Otago (77% above normal), 15mm at Alexandra.

Temperatures: Mean temperatures were about 0.5C below usual overall. Canterbury, Central Otago and parts of Westland and Fiordland were particularly cool, with mean temperatures between 1C and 2C, and mean minimum temperatures up to 3C, cooler than usual. North Island temperatures were closer to normal with southern Bay of Plenty and Rotorua about 1C cooler than usual but the rest of the island up to 0.5C cooler than normal. Anticyclonic conditions brought calm, clear weather and heavy frosts to many parts of the country between the 20th and 23rd. Record minima for May were established at several stations, including Christchurch (-4.5C), Milton (-7.0C) and New Plymouth (-0.6C).

22.5C maximum at Napier Aero on the 1st, -10.0C minimum at Ophir on the 22nd.

Sunshine:  Sunshine hours were close to normal over much of the country this month. Central New Zealand and eastern areas recorded about 25 hours more than usual, while some other areas had down to 20 hours less. Largest departures included Gisborne (+26), Wellington (+26), Nelson (+29), Timaru (+21) and Invercargill (-20).

[Some totals: Kaitaia 142, Waitangi 116, Auckland 146, Tauranga 139, Whakatane 158, Rotorua 142, Taupo 121, Hamilton 123, New Plymouth 139, Masterton 119, Gisborne 167, Napier 154, Ohakea 133, Palmerston North 107, Levin 127, Wellington 141, Stratford 138, Wanganui 127, Westport 109, Hokitika 118, Greymouth 90, Nelson 191, Blenheim 182, Kaikoura 147, Mt Cook 84, Christchurch 144, Timaru 134, Oamaru Aero 123, Omarama 133, Palmerston 119, Dunedin 90, Te Anau 90, Queenstown 77, Cromwell 126, Alexandra 98, Invercargill 68.]

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

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[ato2]

Thanks, RWood. As always, great to have these resources.Did the Stratford station cease reporting sunshine hours in the 90's?

[Rwood]

Thanks Tom. Stratford manual continued to late 2002. An EWS started mid-2002. Problem is that as with Wallaceville and Palm. Nth., the new equipment is set lower than the the old, (I mentioned this sometime in the past I think) and all 3 stations are reporting lower hours than they should be. NIWA is too busy and staff/project constrained to address matters like this quickly. One day no doubt someone in NIWA will have a look at the data and realise that these anomalies (among others relating to both manual and EWS equipment) should be examined and fixed where possible.

[ato2]

Thanks, RWood. As always, great to have these resources.Did the Stratford station cease reporting sunshine hours in the 90's?

Thanks Tom. Stratford manual continued to late 2002. An EWS started mid-2002. Problem is that as with Wallaceville and Palm. Nth., the new equipment is set lower than the the old, (I mentioned this sometime in the past I think) and all 3 stations are reporting lower hours than they should be. NIWA is too busy and staff/project constrained to address matters like this quickly. One day no doubt someone in NIWA will have a look at the data and realise that these anomalies (among others relating to both manual and EWS equipment) should be examined and fixed where possible.
[/quote]
Ah, that explains the situation. Thanks.

[ato2]

So- this is the month that is the precursor to the warmest Winter!

[Weather Display]

only if that same pattern as that year were to happen though...
with a weak el nino or neatrual conditions then a "normal winter" would be the best guess
the recent system was certainly very traditional for the time of year (like back to the good ol days!)
my prediction for over winter is some big frosty highs followed by some nice tasman lows and strong  big NW flows across the country in august (which will make it warm in the east)
time will tell!

[Rwood]

The situation in mid-1984 was that the strong el Nino died out about a year before, with the index very close to zero in the intervening months.

If you look at the history of the NZ temp. series I think you'll find contrasting monthly or seasonal temperatures can follow quickly in a variety of setups.