Expect a spring on steroids

She told Dairy News that September is likely to usher in more storms with winds from west sou’west and lower pressures over the country. MetService predicted a cold August and that has materialised.  

The winter temperatures have been a shock; it’s been a long time since NZ has had such a cold winter, Griffiths says.

“The North Island had a cold July and a cold back half of June, and August so far is running normal cold for the North Island. It’s been about five years since the temperatures looked like this in the North Island. 

“In the South Island June was patchy and… bitterly cold, with snow in late April, May and into the start of June. July was cold. We had a very high incidence of frosts in the North Island and in much of the South Island.”

She says rainfall has been mixed; parts of Canterbury have only just had their first good rain recently. Otago and Southland have been sopping wet, and Manawatu has had heavy rain. Northern regions have been relatively dry, though in some cases it’s been patchy. Overall it’s been dry in the east and wet in western regions.

The El Nino pattern is driving the present conditions, she says. Sea temperatures in June were higher than they should have been. She expects sea temperatures in late winter to be about 1 deg lower on the eastern coastline and about 0.5 deg lower elsewhere. 

This will result in the colder spring.