It will be wetter and warmer for the rest of the summer. Photo / Alan Gibosn
It will be wetter and warmer for the rest of the summer. Photo / Alan Gibosn
The weather predictions for the rest of summer in Tauranga are out - so do you want the good news or the bad news?
Weather experts say it’s likely to be warmer, but the catch is it’s also going to be wetter - much like the soggy and hotter year we have just experienced.
But a meteorologist says that doesn’t mean it will rain for the next two months straight as there will be periods of settled weather.
Tauranga’s tourism industry and fruit farmers are hanging out for a fine summer to peel back lost earnings in recent years.
MetService figures show Tauranga has just had the second wettest year since records began at the current weather station in 1962.
You don’t need to remind Trish Somerfield from Tauranga’s Somerfields Berryfruit Farm. She said the wet weather in December was so bad, it destroyed 60 per cent of their crops in the lead-up to Christmas.
“We had rain 33 days straight. We’d never seen anything like it.”
She said the entire year had been so wet, it had caused an “unprecedented” year for all growers.
For their farm, which grows strawberries, raspberries and blueberries, it was difficult to keep the spirits up for the 20 staff who were having to pick rotting and mushy fruit in the rain.
”You have to keep going because you have to pick a strawberry plant every three days. But my workers have been just brilliant.”
Somerfield Berry Fruit Farm yielded some beauties in December before the rain came.
She said while not all fruit was destroyed, good fruit had to be sold at a discounted rate because it didn’t keep as long as fruit that had ripened in the sun.
She hoped the predictions were correct for more settled periods during the rest of summer.
Waimarino Adventure Park owner Blair Anderson.
Waimarino Adventure Park director Blair Anderson said there was no doubt there had been some extreme weather this year as for the first time they were drawing up safety procedures for thunder and lightning.
“Finally we have got some good weather because before Christmas we were suffering but now the tide has turned and we are going gangbusters.”
He said Waimarino could offer different activities if the weather spoiled the usual activities on the river, including tours to glow worm caves in Rotorua with lunch and hotpools at Lake Rotoiti.
MetService meteorologist Lewis Ferris said low pressure systems from the north are more prevalent than normal under the La Nina weather system, which could bring extended periods of heavy rain into the Bay of Plenty.
“The signal we’re seeing for the remainder of summer is a warm but wet one so people will need to remain up to date with the latest forecasts, even while on holiday.”
But Ferris said it wasn’t all bad news. A high pressure is forecast to linger around the South Island and will drift northwards from time to time so there would be periods of settled weather.
“Even with high pressure around you’ll need to keep an eye on the potential for afternoon showers, these are more likely to be an issue for Rotorua and other inland areas than coastal places like Tauranga.”
With northeasterly winds being more likely this increases the afternoon temperatures but has a more profound impact on rising the morning temperatures and also the humidity.
Niwa’s regional predictions until the end of February show temperatures are likely (70 per cent chance) to be above average. There will be sub-tropical winds and marine heatwave conditions that will result in high heat and humidity at times.
Niwa’s outlook also predicts summer will be similar to last year’s.
