Last week the data about winter was released by the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (or NIWA). It showed that winter this year was the third warmest on record.
The nationwide average temperature was 9.6° Celsius. This was 1.0° higher than the long-term average recorded between 1991 and 2020. This year there were more easterly and northeasterly winds than normal, especially over the South Island, and fewer cold southerly winds. That resulted in these warmer than average temperatures.
The highest temperature was 25.7°C, in Hastings on 10 June. That is the second-highest temperature ever recorded in winter in New Zealand. The lowest temperature was -11.8°C, recorded in Lake Tekapo on 3 August.
The six main centres in New Zealand are Auckland, Tauranga, Hamilton, Wellington, Christchurch, and Dunedin. This winter, Auckland was the warmest, Tauranga was the sunniest, Wellington was the wettest, and Christchurch was the coolest and driest. Although Dunedin was the least sunny centre, with only 322 hours of sunshine, it had its warmest winter since records began in 1947, with an average temperature of 8.7°C – but the previous warmest winter on record in Dunedin was just last year.
The weather records seem to keep breaking nowadays. Five of New Zealand’s six warmest winters have occurred since 2020, and the warmest winter ever was in 2022.
NIWA also reported that there was not much rain in June and July in many parts of the country. As a result, the hydro lake levels were lower than usual, which led to some concerns about electricity shortages. However, there was more rain in August which boosted the hydro lake levels.
The highest amount of rain in one day was 139mm, recorded at Arthur’s Pass (in Canterbury) on 9 June. The second highest amount was 126mm, on 25 June in Gisborne, which led to flooding there and in the surrounding areas, especially in Wairoa.
Vocabulary
was released – in this context, was released means official information was given out
° – the symbol for degrees
Celsius – a scale for measuring temperature. We don’t usually need to say Celsius when we talk about the temperature in everyday conversation, though.
easterly, north-easterly, southerly winds – winds that come from the east, north-east, or south
– the symbol for minus, which means less than zero
hydro lake – lake which stores water for generating hydropower
shortage – when there is not enough of something
boost – to increase or improve something