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.

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

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.

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?

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

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?

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.

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.

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.

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.