It seems to me that there has been a lot of rain in NZ in the past month.

I see that the average rainfall is about 3 inches per month, but I am curious to know if there has been more rain there than normal.

Yes, we were just there 2 weeks ago (both North and South Islands) and the locals indicated that the weather had been MUCH colder and wetter than usual for this season.

Did not hear of a reason for that, though.

Hi Jed

As New Zealand stands out in the middle of an ocean we are pretty much at the mercy of what ever the winds blow our way.

If the anticyclones stay north we get successive depressions blowing over us delivering rain. That is what we had over November and December.

The weather seems to have settled back to a norm now. In Auckland at least we have had stunning weather for the past week. Bit average today but it will again clear up and stay settled through February.

It is the usual pattern for here, that is why late January and February are the best months to visit. Not too hot and not too cold.

Cheers

Steve

We were also there with Mountain Gal 2 weeks ago. The summer weather there was similar to our winter weather in Atlanta. We flew over Milford Sound on Jan 1st. That was the first time they had been able to fly since Christmas Day. They said the weather had been very unusual this year. We did have a couple of nice days, but most of them were pretty cold and rainy.

Well it's bloody great here now. 32C in Napier yesterday. And looks settled for a while yet.

True it does seem like summer has only just arrived!

New Zealand is having a great winter this summer.

New Zealand is having a great winter this summer not to mention having a bit of Rock and Rolling with the earth quakes, apparently these are different in that there have been quite a number in a short period of time and not just one with some aftershocks. Maybe OZ will be in for some good surfing in a couple of days.

Liz

If we did not have the earthquakes we would not have the mountains and then the Aussies would have no where to come and play in winter and spend their lovely dollars.

BTW we get earthquakes fairly frequently in NZ but they are very rarely felt in Auckland. We might have about 50 volcanoes in the city but not earthquakes.

Steve

PS another lovely day in the city of sails, was sailing a yacht at 8 this morning very pleasant.

Hi, guys,
Having been busy organising my new classroom this week I haven't seen any of the beautiful Wellington weather - yet!!
Think I want to shift to an area that does not have rockin' and rollin'! There were 7 felt in the Wellington area. I guess it is making up for the fact that Wellington has not had any quakes for quite some time.
Liz, I agree with your sentiments about a great winter in summer. My hubby and I have just returned from nearly 3 weeks in the South Island. Until we hit Motueka last Tuesday we had had 3 sunny days, and about the same number overcast but fine! However, Motueka was 28+ degrees each day, and I did so enjoy being out in the sun, wearing sunblock and a hat of course! (most of the time)
The weather last year was much tougher than usual so hopefully this year will be better. For those of you travelling this way, it does appear the weather is improving.
Dot

Jed,
I just got back from a 3 1/2 week trip to NZ and the article of clothing I wore the most was my rain coat! The weather was definitely improving by the end of my visit but I was happy that I brought pants, a rain coat, and a fleece. If you are planning to visit the west coast on the south island be sure to bring rain gear since although the weather is improving in Nz that coast is always pretty wet.
Cheers!

We went for 3 weeks at the end of March, and there was 2 days of heavy rain on the West Coast, but otherwise wew were very lucky in that there was little rain otherwise.