It was a dry February for the Bay of Plenty region as rainfall was below average and the hours of sunshine peaked near normal.
A climate summary report from Niwa National Climate Centre showed Tauranga hit near-record extreme winds in early February recording gusts of 78km/h.
That was equal to
the fourth highest speed noted since records began in 1973.
The end of February saw a number of small tornadoes spotted in the western Bay of Plenty around Tauranga and Katikati during a thunderstorm.
Niwa forecaster Chris Brandolino said the thunderstorm, accompanied by other natural factors such as wind shear, sea breeze and landscape would have contributed to forming the tornadoes.
