April 1984:   A dry sunny month over most of New Zealand. Pressures were close to normal, with lowest values to the south and high pressures to both east and west. There were more winds from a southerly quarter in the north of the country while westerlies were slightly more frequent than usual to the south. There were fewer strong winds over the whole country than usual for April. A squall line crossed the Ashburton-Christchurch area on the 8th and produced a small tornado in the Rokeby area. Damage was confined to trees, fences and farm outbuildings although there were some hay losses. Hailstorms accompanied the squall and particularly affected the Ashburton area, where stones up to 2cm in diameter flattened many gardens. The dry, sunny weather suited most farmers, especially in areas where high March rainfalls had replenished soil moisture.

Rainfall: Rainfall was below normal except in areas in the far south and southwest of the South Island and some central and western areas of the North Island. Parts of Bay of Plenty, southern Hawkes Bay and Wairarapa were very dry with many stations recording 10-20% of normal rainfall. In the South Island coastal areas to the north of Banks Peninsula were exceptionally dry, with many stations recording less than 10% of normal. Record lows were set at Culverden (0.2mm, 1915+), Kaikoura (1mm, 1945+), Spotswood (4mm, 1918+) and Glenallen (4mm, 1905+).

Some totals: Milford 582mm, Invercargill 127mm, Stewart Is 212mm; Whangarei Aero 28mm, Tauranga 15mm, Kaikoura 1mm, Christchurch 12mm, Lauder 13mm.

Temperatures: Mean temperatures were normal or above over most of the country; some eastern and central areas of the South Island were up to 1.5C warmer than normal. Northern and northeastern areas of the North Island were about 0.5C cooler than usual. The period from the 1st to the 7th was very mild, with means 3C-5C above average and maximum temperatures of 20C-25C recorded on several days by stations throughout the country. The 7th was the warmest April day for 5 years in some southern parts of the South Island. However a cool spell from the 8th-10th followed, with snow on some South Island high country. Mild conditions returned until the 29th-30th, when readings were 3C-6C below average.

27.5C maximum at Te Teko on the 2nd, -4.9C minimum at Molesworth on the 30th.

Sunshine:  It was sunnier than usual except in parts of Southland, where hours were a little below normal, particularly in the north of the North Island and eastern areas. Kaikoura’s 201 was record high (records from 1960), Kaitaia had 210 (highest since 1965), and Tauranga 222 (highest since 1958).

[Some totals: Kaitaia 210, Dargaville 175, Whangarei 190, Leigh 209, Auckland 193, Tauranga 222, Whakatane 226, Rotorua 204, Taupo 170, Auckland Aero 204, Hamilton 183, New Plymouth 187, Masterton 169, Gisborne 194, Napier 179, Ohakea 179, Palmerston North 141, Levin 165, Wellington 165, Stratford 167, Wanganui 156, Westport 162, Arapito 145, Hokitika 171, Greymouth 143, Nelson 213, Blenheim 207, Kaikoura 201, Mt Cook 139, Methven 170, Christchurch 193, Timaru 157, Oamaru Aero 152, Omarama 213, Palmerston 155, Dunedin 128, Te Anau 126, Queenstown 147, Cromwell 185, Alexandra 155, Gore 118, Invercargill 94.]

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

Tom, your benchmark (ie for NP) for the April is the 1988 one I referred to. I haven't got the base report prepared for that one but could construct it before the end of this month.

Tom, your benchmark (ie for NP) for the April is the 1988 one I referred to. I haven't got the base report prepared for that one but could construct it before the end of this month.
Thanks Rupert.So far, this month seems to have a chance of nearing the record.

It certainly has - to 18th it's NP 158.5, Nelson 150.9, Tekapo 149.9. NP may drop somewhat relative to Nelson as the centre of the high moves further east but probably all 3 sites have a good chance of reaching 246 if anticyclonic conditions continue.