General May Weather

[NZstorm]

It was an unstable May hence the higher rainfall. It was good to get a few thundery days with one stand out day about the 20th I think.
The recovery in the rainfall would have been good for the Dairy industry, we are lucky in NZ we don't get droughts like they get in the US.

[RWood]

Mangere and Akld Aero's highest ever month was July 1998, with 349mm and 304mm respectively.
But yes, some pretty high totals have also been recorded in Jan and Feb.

The old Owairaka station recorded 370mm in April 1956, followed by 313mm in June the same year!

The Met. summary for the year 1956 asserted that for the North Island it was the wettest equal year with 1918 (also the warmest equal year on record and the cloudiest equal with 1953, though the last statement appears to be incorrect - it was clouider than 1953, and still cloudier years have occurred since). The period April-August was exceptionally wet over the North Island.

Here are some snippets from the monthly reports of the time:

April 1956: "An exceptionally warm and humid month. Growth was unusually good for the time of year. Over a large part of the North Island excessive rain made the ground very wet, with outbreaks of facial eczema, especially in Taranaki and Manawatu.

A tropical cyclone which moved slowly down the west coast of the North Island from the 4th to the 8th caused strong easterly gales and heavy rain over the Auckland province with some serious flooding in parts of Northland. There was an unusually high frequency of winds from a westerly quarter, especially form the 11th to the 28th. During the period thunderstorms were reported rather frequently in western districts, and on the 20th 3 small tornadoes caused local damage in Westland."

[RWood]

(cont): "Rainfall: Rainfall was more than double normal over almost the whole of the Auckland province and also in parts of Taranaki, Nelson and Marlborough. In some districts, especially in the Auckland province, it was the wettest April on record. For Whangarei (Glenbervie forest) the total of 21.94” was the highest for any month in nearly 50 years of observations; while Auckland’s 14.14” almost equalled the February 1869 tally of 14.15”.

"Sunshine: Sunshine was below normal over the whole country, by more than 30 hours except in some eastern districts of the South Island. It was easily the cloudiest April on record in the Auckland Province."

"Temperatures: It was the warmest April on record, the previous warmest being in 1938. Departures from normal were mainly 6F in the North Island and 5F in the South Island. In most districts April was appreciably warmer than March. Features of the month were the unusually high night temperatures and the uniform warmth, with an absence of cold spells."

[RWood]

(cont) The 7-station series shows April 1938 and April 1956 as equally warm, with 1978 about 0.1C behind. All 3 were very wet months.

May 1956: "A spell of warm sunny weather which had carried over from the end of April ended on 4 May. Cloudy, unsettled weather then predominated for the rest of the month with frequent heavy rain, especially in the North Island. Pasture growth was good for the time of year, but in parts of Northland and Hawkes Bay the ground was much too wet. "

"Rainfall: Rainfall was more than double normal in northeastern Northland, in the Rotorua-Waikaremoana-Wairoa area, and also in South Canterbury and Otago. Over most other districts conditions were about average or somewhat wetter, but in Westland, North Canterbury and the greater part of Southland rainfall was appreciably below normal.

An exceptional downpour occurred in a thunderstorm in and north of Whangarei on the 26th, with flooding which caused serious damage to property, especially in the town itself. At Glenbervie forest near the city, 2.96” were recorded in an hour.
There were many other heavy falls of rain during the month. Parts of Northland suffered from flooding on the 5th, 9th and 14th. Nelson Aerodrome was under water on the 21st. Heavy falls on the 28th-29th led to flooding in Te Puke and in Takaka. The Glenbervie total of 21.14” set a new monthly record there, surpassing April’s 19.74”.

[RWood]

(cont.) At Musselburgh, Dunedin 8.60" fell (219mm), its record high for May. Only 1.93" at Invercargill, with a relatively sunny month.

"Sunshine: It was cloudier than usual except in the west and south of the South Island. The deficiency exceeded 50 hours in Marlborough, Wairarapa, Hawkes Bay, Gisborne, Bay of Plenty and parts of Northland. Eastern districts from Wairarapa to Gisborne have not previously received so little sunshine in any month."

June 1956: "A mild month but unsettled, especially in western districts. Conditions were favourable for stock, except that the 3rd consecutive month of wet weather in the Auckland province left waterlogged ground in some areas. There was an unusually high frequency of winds from a westerly quarter. 3 small local tornadoes were reported. 2 of these were on the 7th – one at Bell Block, and the other just northeast of Kaitaia. The third occurred at Oakura on the 29th.

Rainfall: Rainfall was appreciably above normal in western districts and in most of the high country. In Waikato, and in parts of the King Country, North Taranaki and Rotorua totals were more than twice the usual value. In the Hamilton-Ngaruawahia area rainfalls ranged from 12.5” to over 17”, and it was the wettest month for over 40 years. It was drier than usual in eastern districts from Dunedin to Castlepoint and from just north of Napier to East Cape. On the Canterbury Plains it was only 1/2 the usual amount. An unusually large number of thunderstorms were reported, especially in western districts, from the 17th-22nd.
Following considerable rain from the 17th-20th, the Waikato River was in flood below Hamilton, in the Rangiriri area, for the last 10 days of the month and until well into July. Flooding was reported in many other parts of the Auckland province during the month. On the 2nd and 3rd parts of Coromandel were seriously affected, while on the 11th parts of Northland were flooded for the 10th time in 6 months.

[RWood]

July 1956: "In the North Island, it was the 4th successive month of mild but unsettled weather, and in some areas the ground stayed excessively wet. In the South Island conditions were beneficial for stock. During the passage of a very deep depression over the Auckland province from the 13th-15th a violent storm raged over whole of the North Island. Southeasterly gales did considerable damage, interrupting the power supply in many districts; at Helensville a church was destroyed. Heavy rain caused disruption of road and rail transport. Serious flooding was reported in the Wairarapa, lower Manawatu, and at Tangoio, Hawkes Bay.

Rainfall: Rainfall was appreciably above normal over the southern half of the North Island, also in northern Hawkes Bay and parts of Northland and Canterbury. From the southern part of Wellington province up the east coast to Cape Kidnappers it was twice the normal amount. It was drier than usual over the greater part of Nelson and Marlborough, and in most inland areas of the South Island. In the Nelson-Motueka area and in Central Otago the deficiency exceeded 50%.

Temperatures: Temperatures were above normal, mainly by about 1F. Departures were greatest in western and northern districts. Snow fell on the high country of both islands on the 2nd-3rd, reaching quite low levels parts of Otago and Southland. In the storm of the 13th-15th heavy snow fell on the high country as far south as Canterbury."

[Manukau heads obs]

The recovery in the rainfall would have been good for the Dairy industry

yes, grass growth during May was as good as spring time
and most dairy areas have recovered back to expected pasture levels

[RWood]

August 1956: "For most of the North Island it was the 5th successive month of unsettled weather, and in parts of the Auckland province the wetness of the ground was adversely affecting the health of stock. In the South Island conditions were much drier and mainly favourable. In the North Island the longest spell of fine sunny weather for four months occurred from the 18th to the 23rd. Three small local tornadoes were reported, all from Taranaki, two on the 24th and the other on the 26th."
"Rainfall: Rainfall was below normal over almost all of the South Island and from Wairarapa to central Hawkes Bay. In Marlborough it was only about 1/3 of average. It was wetter than usual from Waikato and Hauraki northwards. A few places, including Auckland, had double the average. It has been an unusually wet winter for western and northern districts of the North Island. Auckland’s 26.56” is the highest for winter in 100 years of record. For most of this portion of the North Island the annual average rainfall was exceeded before the end of August; in parts of Northland it had already been exceeded before the end of July. Many thunderstorms were reported on the 25th-26th, especially in the Auckland province."

As some consolation, many of the waterlogged areas had quite a sunny August.

[spwill]

We had some very slow moving weather systems this May, unstable showery spells hanging around the upper North Island. Some great thunderstorms over East Auckland on the 21st .

[NZ Thunderstorm Soc]

149.1mm for the month out here at West Melton, not too sure on other totals around the district.

[CHCH Weather Chaser]

103mm here. Largely to the 6th May I think it was from memory with 50mm.

[NZ Thunderstorm Soc]

Largely to the 6th May I think it was from memory with 50mm.

Yes, that day was fairly general with that figure over much of the Canterbury region, but the interesting fact about the May rainfall total here, was the 45.3mm that fell on Tuesday the 21st. The rain seemed to fall mainly here, as apposed to other areas, like Templeton down the road only recorded 15.4mm for the day and further east , at my rain-gauge site in Halswell, a mere 4.5mm was recorded.

[Skywatcher]

My total was 100.4mm which is only the 4th highest for May in 12 years - record is held by 2009 with 171.6mm.

[Ferngrower]

153.1mm here for May (notable 75.5 on 6-7th; 40.5 from 19-24th and 26.5 on28-29th). YTD 314.6mm.
Nothing to compare as my recording only started June 1 last year. Have had 835.7mm for 365 days from 1 June 2012 which seems relatively high for lowland central Canterbury.

[Nev]

Here's NIWA's preliminary, 'May 2013 National Climate Summary'

Wettest May on record for Auckland and cold blast for NZ in late May


Hmm… not sure why they're saying that Akld Aero's 238mm this month is only its second highest since records began in 1959. From what I gather, Akld Aero's previous May record was 216.8mm set in 2004, since records began in 1962 (as stated in NIWA's 2004 summary). It hasn't been beaten since and even if records did exist between 1959 and 1961, they wouldn't have been that high.

I also think the claim, 'Wettest May on record for Auckland' is not entirely accurate, given that sites like Albert Park and Lake Pupuke both recorded 348mm in 1926 (even Waiheke recorded 282mm that year).

[David]

Average max of 20.0 at Leigh with 25.3C on the 3rd?
Both sound too high. For Howick I recorded a mean max of 17.9 and a monthly max of 20.9

[ben g]

Better late than never, flooding sat 4 may. From a mate who can't work electrix stuffs.
http://youtu.be/h4AusQ4Yy44
Sorry if it on the side for some I don't know why YouTube does this or how to fix it

[ben g]

Re upload maybe that will fix it
http://youtu.be/bjQyUZ5jY5E

[ben g]

Sorry for 3 in a row, fixed it!
The game must go on.

http://youtu.be/Jb_YCAbzWas

"Man, this one has been answered dozens of times. What you did was make a change in quiktime and then save it. But, what you saved was some instructions to tell QT, when playing this video, flip it. Those instructions will not be there when you upload the video. Instead of "saving" the video, export it as a new movie and that will be a "stand alone video" that includes the flip and then upload that one."