At the start of each new month, we bring you a summary of the last month’s weather and climate data – brought to you by our friends at NIWA.

Overall, September 2015 was characterised by air pressures that were higher than normal over the South Island and southwest of New Zealand, and lower than normal to the south and east of the country. This circulation pattern resulted in more south-easterly airflows than normal over New Zealand.

The prevalence of south-easterly winds throughout September was certainly reflected in monthly rainfall totals with many coastal eastern areas receiving well above normal rainfall (>149% of September normal) for the month as a whole. These areas include the Bay of Plenty, Gisborne, Hawke’s Bay, eastern Manawatu-Wanganui, eastern Marlborough and northern Canterbury.

Check out some of the highlights (and lowlights) of September, below. 

Rainfall

Rainfall was well above normal (>149%) for many parts of the Bay of Plenty, Gisborne, Hawke’s Bay, eastern Manawatu-Wanganui, eastern Marlborough and northern Canterbury. Conversely, Taranaki, western Manawatu-Wanganui, Tasman, Westland, Southland and Otago received below normal rainfall (50-79%).

Temperature

Mean temperatures were below average (-0.51°C to -1.20°C) for virtually the entire country.
The exceptions were parts of Northland, Auckland, northern Waikato, coastal Westland and western Southland, where near average (-0.50°C to +0.50°C) temperatures were recorded for the month.

Sunshine

Sunshine was near normal (90-109%) for much of the country.
Above normal sunshine (110-125%) was recorded in Nelson, Tasman and Westland.

Soil Moisture

As of 1 October 2015, soils were notably drier than normal in coastal Hurunui, South Canterbury and northern Otago. Soils are now wetter than normal in coastal Hawke’s Bay and Gisborne as well in the district of Kaikoura.
Elsewhere, soil moisture levels were typically near normal for this time of year.

– NIWA