October 1977:  Pressures were lower than normal over the whole of New Zealand in October, and for the first month since April this year they were below normal to the south of the country. There was a predominance of winds from a westerly quarter during the month. Except for parts of the South Island this was a cool dry month over most of the country, with above normal sunshine in many places. The worst flooding for many years occurred in Southland on the 29th and 30th, when three rivers in the region breached their banks. The towns of Dipton and Waikaia were isolated and families were evacuated. Many roads and bridges were impassable due to flooding and damage.

Rainfall: The only areas with above normal rainfall were parts of Bay of Plenty, Nelson, Marlborough, and Otago, and most of Southland and Fiordland. Many parts of Poverty Bay, Hawkes Bay, Wairarapa, and South Canterbury recorded less than 50% of normal. The largest departures above normal were in Southland where heavy rain fell on the 29th and 30th. The station at Manapouri was above normal by more than 100%, other stations in the Southland region were above by 60-70%.

Some monthly totals (mm): Milford 884, Riwaka 182, West Arm 582, Invercargill 145; Hastings 32, Wanganui 33, Christchurch 19, Ikawai 6, Oamaru 10.

Temperatures:  Mean temperatures were below normal in the North Island by about 0.5C and in some places by as much as 1C. In the South Island they were above normal in Marlborough, South Canterbury, Otago and Southland by nearly 0.5C. On the 28th & 29th many places on the east coast experienced very warm temperatures. The 31.0C at Musselburgh, Dunedin on the 28th was its warmest October day since records began in 1865. Gisborne’s 30.8C on the 29th was also an October record (readings started in 1939).
 
31.2C maximum at Berwick Forest on the 28th, -6.8C minimum at Omarama on the 23rd.

Sunshine:   Most of the country had sunshine hours near or above normal for the month. Some stations in Canterbury were above average by 40 to 50 hours, Christchurch having its highest total since 1949. At New Plymouth the monthly total was more than 40 hours above normal.

[Some totals: Kaitaia 174, Dargaville 168, Waitangi 180, Auckland 182, Tauranga 190, Whakatane 215, Rotorua 190, Taupo 204, Hamilton 157, Taumarunui 167, New Plymouth 222, Masterton 207, Dannevirke 175, Gisborne 197, Napier 209, Wairoa 191, Paraparaumu 196, Ohakea 199, Palmerston North 156, Levin 158, Wellington 216, Stratford 171, Wanganui 187, Westport 179, Hokitika 162, Greymouth 138, Riwaka 234, Nelson 228, Blenheim 258, Grassmere 220, Kaikoura 242, Mt Cook 142, Mt John 228, Methven 254, Christchurch 244, Tekapo 220, Timaru 196, Oamaru Aero 206, Omarama 214, Palmerston 209, Dunedin 178, Queenstown 196, Alexandra 205, Gore 173, Invercargill 143].

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