July 1984:  July was a mild, cloudy month for most areas. North-westerly winds were much more frequent than usual in the north, with a corresponding decrease in the number of south-westerlies. At Auckland Airport the frequency of north-westerly winds was the highest, and south-westerlies the lowest for July since 1974. Apart from a slight increase in the number of north-easterlies, winds were very close to normal in the south.
Pressures were generally close to normal, being slightly lower than usual in central districts and the west of the South Island and slightly higher than usual elsewhere.

Rainfall: Coastal areas of South Canterbury, Southland and Otago and the north and east of the North Island had average or less rainfall for July, while the rest of the country was wetter than usual. The Cook Strait region and central and south-western areas of the South Island were especially wet with 150%-250% of normal rainfall. Skifields throughout the country reported an unseasonable lack of snow at the beginning of the month. However, after two light falls on the 2nd and 5th-6th, very cold southerly winds between the 14th-16th brought widespread snow to low levels throughout the country, with reports of light snow as far north as the hills to the east of Kaikohe. Falls were heavy in the high country and southern areas of the South Island and central areas of the North Island, with many road closures and car strandings. The overnight Auckland to Wellington express was halted for 2 hours by snow on the tracks.

Some totals (mm): Kelburn 228, Hokitika 350, Cropp Waterfall 1363, Rai Valley 335, Blenheim 107, Hawea 132, Ophir 48; Napier 48, Gore 37.

Temperatures: Temperatures were higher than normal over the whole country. The south and south-west of the South Island, East Cape and parts of Northland had mean temperatures between normal and 1C above normal and the rest of the country was between 1C and 2C above normal. Many stations in the north and west of the South Island had their warmest July on record. These included (with start of record) Hokitika (1866), Westport (1937) and Nelson (1943). For much of the North Island it was the warmest since 1974. Apart from the period 14th-17th there were few days when mean temperatures fell below average. During the first week some stations in Gisborne, Hawkes Bay and North Auckland recorded temperatures of 20C or above. Riverhead Forest reached 20.1C on the 2nd (July record, opened 1928) and Wairoa’s maximum of 20.4C on the same day was the highest for July since 1967.

20.6C maximum at Coromandel on the 2nd, -11.0C minimum at Molesworth on the 18th.

Sunshine:   Apart from the north of the North Island, where sunshine hours were normal or above normal, much of the country was cloudier than usual for July. The west of the South Island and areas about Cook Strait were particularly dull, with stations in these areas recording 30-45 hours less sunshine than usual. Among those with greatest departures were: Westport (-31 hours), Blenheim (-31 hours), Kelburn (-38 hours), Nelson and Hokitika (-44 hours).

[Some totals: Kaitaia 146, Waitangi 140, Whangarei 138, Leigh 157, Auckland 143, Tauranga 157, Whakatane 167, Rotorua 142, Taupo 109, Hamilton 124, New Plymouth 120, Masterton 80, Dannevirke 100, Gisborne 131, Napier 138, Wairoa 117, Paraparaumu 84, Ohakea 120, Palmerston North 94, Levin 92, Wellington 69, Stratford 85, Wanganui 114, Westport 89, Arapito 87, Hokitika 78, Greymouth 72, Nelson 114, Blenheim 130, Grassmere 127, Kaikoura 99, Mt Cook 52, Methven 94, Christchurch 98, Timaru 103, Oamaru Aero 101, Omarama 107, Palmerston 86, Dunedin Aero 68, Dunedin 72, Te Anau 46, Queenstown 58, Cromwell 73, Alexandra 81, Gore 73,  Invercargill 66.]

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