More regions to face drought declarations
Rural Communities Minister Mark Patterson says the present weather conditions remain challenging for farmers.
Meteorologist Georgina Griffiths says September will likely bring more storms with winds from west south-west and lower pressures over the country. MetService predicted a cold August and that has materialised.
Griffiths told Rural News the temperatures over the past few months have been a shock and it’s been a long time since New Zealand has had a winter like this temperature-wise.
“It’s probably been about five years since we have had temperatures like this in the North Island. In the South Island June was patchy and the temperatures swung; it was bitterly cold with snow in late April and May and into the start of June.
“July was cold again for the South Island. We had a very high incidence of frosts in the North Island and in much of the South Island.”
Griffiths says rainfall-wise it’s been mixed with parts of Canterbury only recently getting its first good rain in a long time. It’s been sopping wet in Otago Southland, and Manawatu has also had a rough time with heavy rain. Northern regions have been relatively dry though sometimes patchy.
Overall it’s been dry in the east and wet in western regions.
