Tauranga's wild July weather

Wild weather flew through Tauranga in July.

Tauranga's third-highest wind gust on record was on July 18, the day a mini-tornado swept through Mount Maunganui.

Niwa's July climate summary shows wind gusts hit 96km/h on July 18, Tauranga's equal-third highest wind gust since records began in 1973.

That day a Mount Maunganui cafe owner was swept off her feet into the path of cars and a tree and left battered and bruised as a mini-tornado swept through the township. Marine Parade shops and cafes bore the brunt of some of the strongest winds, including Sidetrack Cafe.

The Niwa climate summary said water spouts had also been reported off the Mount Maunganui coast.

About 4000 homes in the Western Bay of Plenty and Coromandel had their power cut due to the weather on that day, many of the power cuts resulting from trees falling on overhead lines.

July was a dry month for Tauranga, with only 91mm of rain in the month. This was 71 per cent of normal rainfall for July. The wettest day was on July 15 with 20.4mm.

Tauranga was the sunniest of the six main centres, recording 148 hours of sunshine in the month. This was 98 per cent of normal sunshine hours for July.

The average temperature was 9.8C, 0.5C lower than normal.

On July 8, Te Puke recorded its fourth-lowest maximum daily temperature for July since records began, recording a maximum of 8.6C.

The weather for the rest of this week should be wet. Heavy rain is expected today, turning fine later. Showers are also expected throughout tomorrow and Saturday.