We’re being flooded – pun intended – with questions about why there’s so much rain and wind when it’s supposed to be summer.

Every rain and wind event has specific reasons for developing – but it’s sometimes worth just stepping back and looking at all in a very simplistic way: It’s really mostly just our location on earth.

“We’re basically two large mountainous islands partially in the roaring forties and surrounded by large oceans – our weather is never locked in, it’s always exposed to significant change from the stormy Southern Ocean or the mighty tropical Pacific to our north” says WeatherWatch.co.nz head forecaster Philip Duncan.

Large areas inland (like Australia, America, Europe) tend to have more predictable forecasts – or at least longer stretches of predictable weather. New Zealand – much like Japan – suffers from constant changes from warm to cold, dry to wet, high pressure to low pressure.

“This weather pattern is also the reason why some Kiwis can wear t-shirts and shorts in winter – it brings variety and plenty of fresh water to drink, but it can also ruin some summer holidays with too much rain and wind”.

Whilst forecasters are receiving a lot of complaints and questions about the current unsettled pattern – there’s one group of New Zealanders quietly loving it after the past several drier than average years: Farmers. Many farmers have told us they are ecstatic the grass is growing so much at this normally dry and sometimes drought affected time of year.

❓A lot of people are asking why #NewZealand's weather is so unsettled in January.

Just a reminder… we're a couple of big rocks in the middle of no where, exposed to all sorts of weather systems 12 months a year! A settled summer is never 100% locked in for NZ. 🇳🇿🌏 pic.twitter.com/Bdn49DiEsD

— WeatherWatch.co.nz (@WeatherWatchNZ) January 4, 2023

#QuickPoll: January's weather so far is…

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— WeatherWatch.co.nz (@WeatherWatchNZ) January 4, 2023

WeatherWatch.co.nz / RuralWeather.co.nz