April 1955:  It was the warmest April since 1938 and one of the warmest on record. For the first 2 weeks the weather was mainly settled, and by mid-month there was a serious shortage of feed in some areas, especially where March rainfall had been inadequate, as in Waikato, King Country and parts of Canterbury. Good rains in the second half of the month restored most North Island pastures, but conditions remained too dry in Canterbury.

Heavy rain in Hawkes Bay on the 22nd-23rd disrupted road and rail transport. A local whirlwind near Waitara on the 27th damaged three houses, uprooted trees and smashed telegraph poles. The last 3 days brought a sudden change to wintry conditions, with strong southwesterly gales over most of the South Island and the first snow since November on the mountains of the North Island.

Rainfall: Rainfall was appreciably below normal over almost the whole of the South Island and also over Northland. In Canterbury and North and Central Otago rainfall was less than 1/3 of normal; some stations only received 0.25”.

There was a surplus in eastern districts of the North Island from Castlepoint to Whakatane and also over the central plateau from Taihape to Rotorua. In Gisborne and Hawkes Bay rainfall was more than double the normal value, and about 3/4 of the monthly total fell between the 21st and 24th; several stations recorded 9”-12” over this period.

Temperatures: Temperatures were above normal over the whole country, and departures were mainly 2F-3F. For most districts the weather had been warmer than normal over each of the 6 months from November to April.

Sunshine: Sunshine was mainly about normal. Marlborough and inland Canterbury were favoured with a surplus of about 30 hours, while there was a deficiency of about 20 hours in parts of the Auckland province, Hawkes Bay and Westland.

 [Some totals: Te Hapua 157, Kaitaia 159, Kerikeri 129, Whangarei 131, Auckland 138, Tauranga 165, Taupo 166, Hamilton 129, New Plymouth 162, Masterton 169, Gisborne 175, Napier 156, Paraparaumu 163, Ohakea 145, Palmerston Nth 131, Levin 140, Wellington 163, Wallaceville 156, Wanganui 150, Westport 174,  Hokitika 124, Greymouth 117, Haast 135, Nelson 197, Blenheim 204, Grassmere 187, Mt Cook 151, Methven 156, Christchurch 143, Tekapo 200, Timaru 133, Waimate 121, Omarama 175, Dunedin Aero 122, Dunedin 118, Queenstown 137, Alexandra 164, Invercargill 91, Campbell Is 25 ].


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