October 1979:   During October pressures were slightly below normal in the north of New Zealand, but appreciably above to the south of the country. There was a lower frequency of northwest winds over the southern half of the country, but in the north the windflow was near normal. Throughout New Zealand, conditions were generally wetter, but slightly warmer than usual. A combination of exceptionally high tides and strong winds gusting to more than 93kph caused the closure of roads around the Auckland waterfront on the 8th.

Rainfall: The only areas with rainfall totals below normal were parts of coastal Bay of Plenty, Poverty Bay, northern Hawkes Bay, Manawatu, the Kaikoura Coast, and Southland. Some of these areas had only 50% of the normal rainfall. Invercargill’s total was the lowest for October since 1966. In Waikato, Central Districts, Wairarapa, Wellington, Nelson, Marlborough and Canterbury the monthly rainfalls were more than 100% above normal. Taupo and Masterton recorded their highest October rainfalls since the stations began in 1950 and 1926 respectively, and at Christchurch Airport the total was the highest since October 1947. Homes were evacuated in Ohura on the 14th when the Waitewhena river breached its banks. Heavy rain there totalling 109mm fell in the period from the 13th to the 15th.

Some monthly totals (mm): Kerikeri 276, Taupo 232, Taumarunui 190, Masterton 183, Kaitoke 366, Stratford Mountain House 829, Hokitika 378, Cropp Hut 1206, Nelson 179, Ashburton 122; Tauranga 88, Gisborne 58, Wanganui 71, Kaikoura 55, Te Anau 52, Invercargill 49.

Temperatures:  Temperatures were above normal throughout most of the country by about 0.5C, but below by the same amount along the east coast of the South Island. Daytime maxima were lower than usual in most areas but night time minima were slightly above average. During one especially cold spell from the 22nd to the 26th maximum temperatures were below normal by 3-6C on the 23rd. From the 27th to 29th some east coast districts had maxima above average by as much as 5-8C.

28.4C maximum at Napier on the 14th, -6.7C minimum at Chateau, Ruapehu on the 24th.

Sunshine:  The only areas with sunshine hours above normal were parts of Northland, Auckland, the West Coast and Southland. At Dunedin less than 70% of the normal was recorded, and many areas throughout the country had 30-40 hours less sunshine than usual.

[Some totals: Kaitaia 200, Dargaville 160, Waitangi 182, Whangarei 166, Auckland 190, Tauranga 178, Whakatane 194, Rotorua 174, Taupo 169, Te Kauwhata 174, Hamilton 167, New Plymouth 163, Masterton 164, Dannevirke 145, Gisborne 194, Napier 197, Wairoa 185, Paraparaumu 150, Ohakea 155, Palmerston North 106, Levin 119, Wellington 144, Stratford 143, Wanganui 142, Westport 143, Arapito 113, Hokitika 176, Greymouth 144, Riwaka 183, Nelson 185, Blenheim 194, Grassmere 181, Kaikoura 168, Mt Cook 132, Mt John 180, Methven 139, Christchurch 176, Tekapo 177, Timaru 154, Oamaru Aero 132, Omarama 162, Palmerston 127, Dunedin 118, Te Anau 190, Queenstown 177, Cromwell 193, Alexandra 170, Gore 147, Invercargill 154, Campbell Is 109 (highest)].

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