1356 THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE No. 46

THE WEATHER IN NEW ZEALAND IN JANUARY 1986

General—January was much warmer than average throughout New Zealand.

North-easterlies prevailed over the North Island with a much greater frequency than usual, and north-westerlies were predominant over the South Island, with their second highest frequency since 1956.

Flooding occurred in some North Island regions during the period from the 4th to the 6th. The worst affected places were:

Pawarenga (Northland) where people were evacuated from all of the 18 houses there;

Ngongotaha (near Rotorua) where water had surrounded 30 properties and 25 people were evacuated;

Tarawera where 5 families had to leave their homes, and 3 major roads were blocked in the area due to slips;

The Henderson Valley (Northwest Auckland) where residents fled from their houses due to flood waters up to 2 or 3 metres high (due to the Opanuku Stream which had burst its banks). Twelve people were rescued by the fire brigade.

On the 25th floods also occurred in Nelson City. Almost 150 mm of rain fell in the 48 hours to 9 a.m. on the 27th, which has a return period of nearly 50 years. Major damage to some homes, bridges, and the sewage system resulted, together with severe slips, causing roads out of the city to be blocked. A state of emergency was declared at 2 p.m. on the 25th. Approximately 150 people in the Brightwater and Matai regions evacuated their houses.

During this time high seas affected Northland and the Bay of Plenty. A yacht capsized just off the coast near Leigh, and a woman was swept away and assumed drowned. Winds in the area were estimated to be gusting up to 110 kmph from the north-east, with waves up to 11 metres.

Mean sea level pressures were 1 to 2 hPa above average over the North Island, and near average over the South Island.

Farmers reported excellent pasture growth this month. Most stock were in good condition, although a large number of cases of flystrike affected cattle in southern and eastern regions of the North Island.

Rainfall—Rainfall was well above normal throughout the North Island, apart from Gisborne, Hawkes Bay and the Wairarapa. Rainfall totals for the Gisborne region ranged between 45 and 60 percent of normal.

Record January rainfalls resulted at:

Rotorua Airport 359 mm (399 percent of normal)
Kinleith 275 mm (257 percent of normal)
Auckland City 225 mm (381 percent of normal)
Hamilton Airport 219 mm (300 percent of normal)

Over the South Island rainfall was generally near average apart from Buller, Marlborough and Nelson where it ranged from 150 to over 300 percent of normal. Nelson’s high rainfall of 227 mm (329 percent of normal) was also a record.

Some high 24 and 48 hour rainfalls this month were:

Temperatures—Nationwide January was one of the warmest months ever. Mean temperatures were 2°C above the long term averages, making it the second warmest month since records began in the 1860’s. The mean daily temperature was 2.5°C above normal in the King Country, Wellington, South Canterbury and central Otago regions.

Some of the greatest departures from normal this month were:

At Gisborne Airport the mean daily maximum temperature averaged 27.4°C which is the second highest since records began in 1938.

Sunshine—Throughout the whole of the country hours of sunshine ranged between 85 and 105 percent of normal. The region with the least amount of sunshine was in Southern Hawke’s Bay.

J. S. HICKMAN, Director.