December 1977:   Winds were predominantly westerly over New Zealand in December. However, although the mean temperature and total sunshine recorded during the month reflected the predominantly westerly wind flow, the total rainfall did not. This was because most of the rainfall was associated with three of four major troughs of low pressure moving over the country, and the rainfall was not evenly distributed throughout the month. In most places the rainfall was adequate for good pasture growth, except in parts of South Canterbury and North Otago.

Rainfall: Over the country as a whole the December rainfall was a little above normal. However, in Northland, parts of Taranaki, South Westland, Fiordland, the Kaikoura Coast, South Canterbury and North and Central Otago it was drier than normal though these areas generally had at least 50% of their normal rainfall. In the remainder of the country the excess of rainfall above normal exceeded 50% in only a few places, notably in the vicinity of Gisborne (80% above) and Dunedin (130% above).

Some monthly totals (mm): Gisborne 114, Kelburn 132, Westport 298, Blenheim 85, Dunedin Airport 128; Waitangi 47, Patea 29, Milford 317, Timaru 39, Te Anau 56.

Temperatures:   Apart from Poverty Bay and some east coast areas of the South Island temperatures were below normal over the whole country. The largest departures from normal were in Northland, Auckland, Waikato, Taranaki, Manawatu, Wellington, Buller and parts of Westland. In some parts of these regions the mean temperature was below normal by at least 1.0C, and in some cases by 1.5C.
 
32.5C maximum at Waiau (N. Cant’y) on the 4th, -0.7C minimum at Naseby on the 25th.

Sunshine:  Over the North Island the duration of bright sunshine was within 10% of the average value, except in the east of Northland where it was above normal by more than 20%. In the South Island the majority of the east coast had 10% to 20% more sunshine than usual, some stations in coastal Otago having 45 to 55 hours more than normal.

[Some totals: Kaitaia 232, Waitangi 245, Whangarei 236, Auckland 232, Tauranga 227, Whakatane 223, Rotorua 215,Taupo 201, Hamilton 205, Te Kuiti 194, Taumarunui 200, New Plymouth 240, Masterton 238, Dannevirke 186, Gisborne 218, Napier 219, Wairoa 220, Paraparaumu 233, Ohakea 222, Palmerston North 197, Levin 202, Wellington 240, Stratford 221, Wanganui 224, Westport 196, Hokitika 191, Greymouth 178, Riwaka 236, Nelson 234, Blenheim 256, Kaikoura 243, Mt Cook 169, Mt John 249, Methven 208, Christchurch 240, Tekapo 240, Timaru 201, Oamaru Aero 216, Omarama 205, Palmerston 225, Dunedin 223, Te Anau 201, Queenstown 212, Alexandra 213, Gore 224, Invercargill 181].

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