Rainfall, Rain Days, Dry Days 2013 - What are your Region's Stats.

[JennyLeez]

Rain or the lack of it is fairly topical at present across New Zealand.
Posted below is the Rainfall for this month and also the Year to date from our Member Stations.
(NZLWF accepts no responsibility for the accuracy of Member's Data.)

For us over on the East Coast of the North Island, the rainfall is pretty normal in total but the difference is the number of rain days. This number is well down in comparison to the last few years. Our rural sector is well used to this and have adequate feed for stock and sprinklers throughout paddocks which largely grow maize at this time of the year.
Many are purchasing water which is transported by tanker but that is the norm during the summer months however extremely expensive.

In 37 days Wairoa and the out lying rural area have had 6 rain days and 34mm rain fall.

Much of New Zealand has had less rainfall and less rain days going from our station's data.
Add your comments below.

• Tweet

[ato2]

New Plymouth: last 30 days at airport, met service site:

67.8mm, in total.
 7 days over 1mm, 1 day at 0.2mm

29.6mm for February: 28.6 on one day, 1mm on the other.

[JennyLeez]

This topic is well and truly still in the news.
Anyone else have some comments please?

[einzack]

today I have matched my longest dry run record, and with no rain forecast until sunday (and then only showers), it'll set a new record for sure.
3 rain days this month, with 2 of them only 1 tippers.
january was actually quite wet with 190 mm, so we're in much better shape than most, but february has been one out of the box.

[ato2]

New Plymouth: no change since I last posted. One day of rain and one day of 1mm in the past 30 days, probably in the past 40 days...met service figures.

[David]

Howick

Feb 2013 = 16.4mm
Jan 2013 = 12.6mm
Dec 2012 = 68.6mm
Nov 2012 = 59.0mm

Both January and February have only had 3 wet days each (>=1mm)

[ato2]

Howick[/b]

Feb 2013 = 16.4mm
Jan 2013 = 12.6mm
Dec 2012 = 68.6mm
Nov 2012 = 59.0mm

Both January and February have only had 3 wet days each (>=1mm)
I wonder- how does that compare with the accuracy of those long term predictions we get sent out by Met Service- or is it NIWA -for the Season ahead?

[Rwood]

They're not really predictions - just statistical breakdowns into 3 groupings. Outlier setups like this summer's "dry" will never be fully predicted, because doing so would involve a level of analysis, knowledge and computer power that would have to defy chaos theory. However, the outlook for Jan-March did give at least a 30% chance that the north would be drier than average.

Re New Plymouth sun, it looks as if the total will be a bit too high to be fully credible, even making an allowance for EWS conversion, given that the all-time record for NZ in a non-leap February is 292 hours, and NP's tally may reach at least 305. I could credit a value of up to about 295.

[ato2]

So about 4% over reading with EWS.  Does that figure remain constant when comparing other stations? I am starting to appreciate the odd cloud or have fond memories of rain!
As an aside, I am finding the  day after day of sun "un-natural", as it seems to be unbroken

[Rwood]

They're not really predictions - just statistical breakdowns into 3 groupings. Outlier setups like this summer's "dry" will never be fully predicted, because doing so would involve a level of analysis, knowledge and computer power that would have to defy chaos theory. However, the outlook for Jan-March did give at least a 30% chance that the north would be drier than average.

Re New Plymouth sun, it looks as if the total will be a bit too high to be fully credible, even making an allowance for EWS conversion, given that the all-time record for NZ in a non-leap February is 292 hours, and NP's tally may reach at least 305. I could credit a value of up to about 295.
So about 4% over reading with EWS.  Does that figure remain constant when comparing other stations? I am starting to appreciate the odd cloud or have fond memories of rain!
As an aside, I am finding the  day after day of sun "un-natural", as it seems to be unbroken
[/quote]

Unfortunately there's little overall constancy, meaning that a whole heap of EWSs (and some manual stations!!) should be rechecked for calibration. There's no doubt whatever that you've had an exceptionally sunny month, but if a national record is to be broken - at any time at any site - then a check is in order. As always, the question of what resources NIWA will put into the matter has yet to be answered. They could certainly do something about (e.g.) Paraparaumu Aero, which has had both types of readings going for some time now, and the EWS values there are most definitely too high.

[ato2]

So about 4% over reading with EWS.  Does that figure remain constant when comparing other stations? I am starting to appreciate the odd cloud or have fond memories of rain!
As an aside, I am finding the  day after day of sun "un-natural", as it seems to be unbroken

Unfortunately there's little overall constancy, meaning that a whole heap of EWSs (and some manual stations!!) should be rechecked for calibration. There's no doubt whatever that you've had an exceptionally sunny month, but if a national record is to be broken - at any time at any site - then a check is in order. As always, the question of what resources NIWA will put into the matter has yet to be answered. They could certainly do something about (e.g.) Paraparaumu Aero, which has had both types of readings going for some time now, and the EWS values there are most definitely too high.
Is there a list of those most crying out for calibration checks?
I was thinking of the annual totals for last year, for example, and wondering what the likely readings were compared to the newspaper published figures.
I know New Plymouth and Tauranga and Nelson ( I think)had very sunny years, but not vastly above what they can get. The Whakatane one seemed to stand out: is Whakatane that much sunnier than Tauranga?

[Deano]

Kaipara

Feb 2013 =  22.8
Jan 2013 =  5.6
Dec 2012 = 78.4
Nov 2012 = 38.2

[Rwood]

Unfortunately there's little overall constancy, meaning that a whole heap of EWSs (and some manual stations!!) should be rechecked for calibration. There's no doubt whatever that you've had an exceptionally sunny month, but if a national record is to be broken - at any time at any site - then a check is in order. As always, the question of what resources NIWA will put into the matter has yet to be answered. They could certainly do something about (e.g.) Paraparaumu Aero, which has had both types of readings going for some time now, and the EWS values there are most definitely too high.
Is there a list of those most crying out for calibration checks?
I was thinking of the annual totals for last year, for example, and wondering what the likely readings were compared to the newspaper published figures.
I know New Plymouth and Tauranga and Nelson ( I think)had very sunny years, but not vastly above what they can get. The Whakatane one seemed to stand out: is Whakatane that much sunnier than Tauranga?

I have a list of "errants" - mostly some EWSs that read too high in my opinion, though there are other cases (some manual sites that have deteriorated and are too low, one manual (Invercargill) that is too high, and a few EWss that are a bit on the low side because the exposures are not good enough.)

Tauranga was only a little above average last year, and the Whakatane issue is definitely not fixed as far as I am concerned. There were other standouts, but they get no attention because they're further down the list. Among these are Hokitika, Greymouth, Ashburton, Rangiora, Te Kuiti, Taumarunui, Paraparaumu, Ohakune, Cheviot and Balclutha - the latter being the most extreme. At present I'd put New Plymouth in an "uncertain" category.

[David]

Kaipara[/b]

Feb 2013 =  22.8
Jan 2013 =  5.6
Dec 2012 = 78.4
Nov 2012 = 38.2

Pretty similar to here! We have both recorded about 145mm over the past 4 months.

[Rwood]

Tom, an update to the above - NIWA record seems to show NP at an incredible 295 hours after 25 days - that's getting into Star Trek or Perth territory. Clearly some calibration downwards needs to be done, as the above could lead to a monthly total of close to 325.

[ato2]

Thanks for that. I made a quick calculation last week and mentioned in the shout box- I think- that at that rate it would top out at 326 hrs.
I do wish the manual one was still running alongside it.

Informally, I cannot recall a month with day after day after day being so cloudless. The extreme dryness and warm day temperatures all fit in with a record breaking feel to the month: it has a strange feel to it-  with little of the variation that we associate with our normally mild climate locally.
An average of ten hours a day of bright sunshine wouldn't surprise me- it would be nice to know we could rely on the figure recorded though- I would say it probably is  a record but by how much?

[einzack]

the weather over the last month has reminded me of my time living in the Pilbara, Western Australia.
for 10 months of the year the weather was like it has been here. sunny, cloudless days. drove me a bit insane it did back then.
having no "weather" makes for a dull time imo.

[ato2]

I agree with you on that one!

[Rwood]

I think 295 hours would still be a good number for the month, assuming tomorrow is sunny as well. The previous record of 284 was for a leap February, so a value of 295 could be argued as about 20+ hours ahead of the old record - and note that the 295 would still constitute a new NZ record for a 28-day February.

It's annoying that they only allowed a couple of weeks' overlap for NP and Gisborne, which converted at the same time. Gisborne was interesting - at first the EWS values looked a little lowish, then briefly too high, now finally I think they're "Goldilocks". Kaitaia has had 2 flavours running for over 10 years now, and only in the last 5-6 have the two sets looked to be in good agreement. New pairs at Hokitika and Greymouth are showing large discrepancies. Improvements in exposure in some cases make it harder to determine what is reasonable.

W'gton will have matched its record today and should end up 11-12 above if tomorrow is fine, with city records going back to 1907.

[Rwood]

I could stand a lot of it, but at lower temperatures - more like Fresno in California, say.