NZ Weather Forum

Razor wrote: ↑Thu 31/12/2020 09:19 So it looks like a dry day today, meaning Halswell will finish the year with 383mm. By far the driest year I have experienced anywhere I have lived.

TonyT wrote: ↑Thu 31/12/2020 11:37

Razor wrote: ↑Thu 31/12/2020 09:19 So it looks like a dry day today, meaning Halswell will finish the year with 383mm. By far the driest year I have experienced anywhere I have lived.

And yet here, just 60km up the road, just over 100mm for December brings the annual total to 645mm.

David wrote: ↑Thu 31/12/2020 10:31 Will end up with 781mm for the year here - over 400mm short of average. This beats my previous driest year on record by a whopping 244mm (1025mm in 2015). Amazing to think just 2 years ago I recorded 1755mm for the year!

Razor wrote: ↑Thu 31/12/2020 09:19 So it looks like a dry day today, meaning Halswell will finish the year with 383mm. By far the driest year I have experienced anywhere I have lived.

MetService December 2020 Summary - A little bit of everything, even snow!

December began with high pressure sat in the Tasman Sea, westerlies across South Island, and a ridge extending across Northland. This brought a very dry start to the month with temperatures way above average for the time of year for eastern areas and North Island north of Taupo. North Island between New Plymouth and Wellington were much wetter than average thanks to a few slow-moving fronts. This was broken up by a sharp southerly change on the 11th which brought summer snow to parts of South Island. Through mid-month the high moved overhead bringing a settled spell for all.

The weather became unsettled in the week leading up to Christmas, with a notably cold, wet spell for eastern South Island. Come Boxing Day thunderstorms brought hail and heavy rain to the upper South Island before bringing showers across North Island. A brief ridge brought a settled end to the year for most with cold, southerly showers for eastern North Island the main exception.

Dec 2020 Average Temps, Rainfall, Sunshine and departures from 1981-2010 normals ℅ NIWA

Site                     T-max °C      T-min °C      T-mean °C     Rain mm      Sun hrs

Auckland, Mangere       22.2  +0.6    15.0  +0.2    18.6  +0.4     26   30%    255  129%
Auckland Aero           22.5  +0.7    15.0  +0.1    18.7  +0.4     36   42%
Tauranga Aero           23.6  +1.4    13.9   0.0    18.8  +0.8     19   20%    n/a   n/a
Hamilton Aero           22.5  +0.3    10.7  -0.9    16.6  -0.3     35   33%
Hamilton, Ruakura       23.1  +1.1    11.4  -0.6    17.3  +0.3     19   19%    244  118%
Wellington, Kelburn     18.0  -0.6    12.4  +0.1    15.2  -0.2    101  122%    199   89%
Christchurch Aero       21.5  +0.4     9.7  -0.8    15.6  -0.2     62  133%    236  107%
Dunedin, Musselburgh    18.4  +1.1    10.6  +0.2    14.5  +0.7     67   84%    241  144%
Greymouth Aero          18.4  +0.2    11.0  -0.2    14.7   0.0    220   87%    184  110%