July 1978: Over most of New Zealand July was a wet and relatively mild month. Pressures were exceptionally low over the whole country and high to the south. There was a predominance of easterly winds over the country, stronger in the south, with lighter westerly winds to the north of New Zealand. Gale force winds affected many areas in the North Island, and parts of the South Island on the 18th/19th, when a deep depression moved slowly southwards over the country. Winds gusted to 95 knots at Cape Reinga on the 18th and 61 knots in Auckland city on the 19th. The worst affected areas were the Coromandel Peninsula and the Hauraki Plains. At Mt Te Aroha a gust of 120 knots was measured on the morning of the 19th, and more than 100 buildings were damaged in the area. Widespread power cuts occurred, and a goods train was blown off the tracks crossing a bridge over the Waitoa River. There was extensive beach front erosion in coastal areas and flood waters and slips disrupted many transport services.
Rainfall: Rainfall was above normal over the whole country apart from some areas on the West Coast, Southland, and Central Otago. In the central North Island and on the east coast of the South Island totals were more than double the monthly average. In an area along the Canterbury and Otago coast from Geraldine to Palmerston many stations were above normal by 150-300%. The rainfall station at Hunter (near Waimate) was more than 365% above normal. Canterbury and North Otago recorded heavy rain in many areas on the 8th/9th. At Christchurch 32mm was measured in 12 hours on the 9th, and over a period of 72 hours more than 75mm. Surface flooding closed the state highway north of Oamaru, and the Picton/Christchurch railway line was closed because the track was undermined north of Christchurch. During the period of gale force winds that affected the North Island on the 18th/19th, Te Aroha recorded more than 110mm in 12 hours, and Paeroa 122mm in 24 hours.
Some monthly totals (mm): Dargaville 257, Te Aroha 318, New Plymouth 277, Waipukurau 181, Palmerston North 183, Stratford Mountain House 1030, Wanganui 161, Motueka 269, Darfield 219, Akaroa 391, Waimate 175, Dunedin 137; Milford 319, Queenstown Aero 37, Roxburgh Power Station 23.
Temperatures: Temperatures were above normal over most of the country apart from some parts of Northland and Bay of Plenty which were slightly below. In some areas of Nelson, Canterbury, Otago and Southland they were above by as much as 1.5C. Night time temperatures were about 1C above normal and maximum temperatures about 0.5C above. There was one cold spell from 14th to the 18th when maxima were below normal by as much as 3C-4C.
20.2C maximum at Wairoa on the 4th,
-10.7C minimum at Moa Creek on the 3rd.
Sunshine: Most of the country had below normal sunshine hours for the month. In some areas of Taranaki, Canterbury, and coastal Otago between 20 and 40 hours less sunshine than average was recorded. The only areas that were slightly above normal were parts of Bay of Plenty, the Wellington area and inland Southland.
[Some totals: Kaitaia 121, Waitangi 147, Whangarei 120, Auckland 134, Tauranga 140, Whakatane 158, Rotorua 141, Taupo 111, Hamilton 112, Taumarunui 87, New Plymouth 107, Masterton 89, Dannevirke 83, Gisborne 126, Napier 137, Wairoa 122, Paraparaumu 106, Ohakea 104, Palmerston North 87, Levin 100, Wellington 114, Stratford 96, Wanganui 94, Westport 116, Hokitika 107, Greymouth 91, Riwaka 152, Nelson 152, Blenheim 142, Grassmere 132, Kaikoura 122, Mt Cook 63, Mt John 114, Methven 116, Christchurch 109, Tekapo 98, Timaru 93, Oamaru Aero 102, Omarama 97, Palmerston 89, Dunedin 86, Te Anau 67, Queenstown 81, Alexandra 72, Gore 103, Invercargill 79, Campbell Is 7].
Sources: NZ Met. Misc. pub. 107 (Climatological table, NZ Gazette) and NZ Met. Misc. pub. 109 (Meteorological Observations).
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February 15, 2012, 01:09:57 PM