June 1981: June was a mild, cloudy month for most of New Zealand. North-westerly winds were most frequent in the north of the country while north-easterlies predomin11,ted in the south, where the frequency of north-easterlies was the greatest for June in 25 years. Farmers in many parts of the country reported some grass growth due to the mild weather and a relative lack of frost in many areas, although pasture pugging due to prolonged wet weather has caused some problems. The mild, dry week at the end of the month in Canterbury was ideal for wheat drilling and other cultivation.
Rainfall: Rainfall was above normal in all areas except Blenheim, Southland and South Otago. Parts of the Wairarapa Valley, Westland and Canterbury had over twice their normal rainfalls. Heavy falls in south Westland on the 2nd caused local flooding and resulted in the Haast Pass road being closed. Some of the heaviest falls on the 2nd were recorded at Bruce Bay (128 mm), Fox Glacier (159 mm), Mahitahi (176 mm) Ross (183 mm) and Whataroa (204 mm). Parts of the Wairarapa valley were flooded again this month after heavy rain on the 6th and 7th. The soil was still saturated from last month's flooding and severe slips occurred on some properties. An unusual feature of the rainfall this month had been the higher number of days with more than 1.0 mm of rain. There were more than 20 such days for much of the North Island and approximately 15 days for central and northern areas of the South Island. This is between 3 and 7 days more than usual in all areas. Wet, muddy conditions have resulted. Although rainfall for Dunedin City was more than twice normal, Dunedin Airport recorded below normal rainfall for the third consecutive month. Invercargill also had less rainfall than normal for June.
Some totals (mm): North Egmont 874, Fox Glacier 514, Hari Hari 492, Otria 478, Mt Cook 415, Hokitika 363, Rai Valley 176, Blenheim Airport 65, Ranfurly 21
Temperature: Mean temperatures were an average 1.5°C above normal in the North Island and 1.0°C above normal in the South Island this month. Gisborne, 2°C above and Taupo 1.9°C above normal, had their second highest June means since 1937 and 1949 respectively. Some high temperatures were recorded in eastern areas on the 3rd, during a period of strong north-westerly winds. These included 22.9°C at Gisborne, the highest for June since records began in 1937, 24.3°C at Napier Airport, also the highest recorded there for June, and 23.6°C at Kaikoura, the 2nd highest for June since 1963. There were two pronounced cold spells this month. The first, between the 5th and 12th, affected the South Island, with temperatures between 2" and 5° below normal. The second between the 21st and 25th affected the whole country, again with temperatures 2° to 5° below normal.
25.0C maximum at Havelock North on the 3rd,
-9.8C minimum at Ophir on the 12th.
Sunshine: Sunshine hours were low over the whole country except in Kaitaia and Invercargill. Blenheim, with 91 hours sunshine, had its lowest total for any month since 1930, when records began, while Kelburn, with 66 hours had its lowest equal total for any month in the same period. Stations recording large deficits this month were: Blenheim ( - 66 hrs), Christchurch (-52 hrs) Gisborne (-51 hrs), Nelson (-47 hrs), Wellington (-39 hrs), Taupo (-34 hrs) and Westport (-32 hrs). In contrast, Invercargill had 17 hours more sunshine than usual for June.
[Some totals: Kaitaia 131, Waitangi 127, Whangarei 120, Leigh 114, Auckland 111, Tauranga n/a, Whakatane 104, Rotorua 100, Taupo 79, Auckland Aero 110, Hamilton 93, New Plymouth 87, Masterton n/a, Dannevirke 29, Gisborne 81, Napier 64, Wairoa 52, Paraparaumu 74, Ohakea 78, Palmerston North 53, Levin 72, Wellington 66, Wanganui 62, Westport 79, Arapito 73, Hokitika 91, Greymouth 70, Nelson 102, Blenheim 92, Grassmere 94, Kaikoura 60, Mt Cook 55, Methven 63, Christchurch 65, Timaru 73, Oamaru Aero 71, Omarama 85, Palmerston 66, Dunedin Aero 77, Dunedin 71, Te Anau 86, Queenstown 76, Cromwell 82, Alexandra 84, Gore 88, Invercargill 87].
Sources: NZ Met. Misc. pub. 97 (Climatological table, NZ Gazette) and NZ Met. Misc. pub. 97 (Meteorological Observations).
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April 19, 2012, 07:27:35 PM