The Bay of Plenty recorded “above normal” rainfall last year as New Zealand had its second-warmest year in recorded history, Niwa’s annual climate summary says.
The National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research report says the region recorded 120 to 149 per cent more rain than normal, alongside much of the eastern Wairarapa and the eastern Tararua districts.
Rainfall was “well above normal” – more than 149 per cent of the annual normal – for parts of Northland, Auckland, Coromandel, Gisborne and Hawke’s Bay.
It comes after several rainfall events last year hit the Bay of Plenty, including Cyclone Hale, Cyclone Gabrielle and the Auckland Anniversary weekend floods, which resulted in a landslide crashing into homes in Maungatapu and families being evacuated.
The first six months of 2023 were New Zealand’s second-warmest start to a year, but easily the wettest for a host of centres, with Tauranga, Kaikohe, Whangārei, Napier, Gisborne and multiple locations in Auckland all receiving a year’s worth of rainfall.