Cyclone Pam passed east of the country on March 16 and 17, bringing strong winds and heavy rain to the northern and eastern parts of the North Island.
Cyclone Pam passed east of the country on March 16 and 17, bringing strong winds and heavy rain to the northern and eastern parts of the North Island.
Strong winds caused the majority of the weather extremes in Tauranga for 2015.
Niwa's Annual Climate Summary, released yesterday, detailed the weather extremes around the country, including Tauranga and Te Puke.
Ex-Tropical Cyclone Pam passed east of the country on March 16 and 17, bringing strong winds and heavy rain to the northern and eastern parts of the North Island.
Tauranga was spared the worst of the storm, with waves in excess of 9m the biggest impact in the Western Bay.
Wind gusts of 93km/h were recorded in the city on April 30, the equal highest gusts for the month since 1973.
On July 18, waterspouts and mini tornadoes were reported at Mount Maunganui and 9000 homes in the upper North Island, including many in the Bay, were left without power.
A car crashed into a house, a woman narrowly missed being covered in exploding glass, signage fell and a tree branch pierced a shop roof as strong gusts of winds ravaged the region.
Wind aside, Tauranga was the sunniest of the country's six main centres and had below average rainfall for the year. Only 844mm of rain fell in 2015, which was 71 per cent of what the city would normally get in a year.
Tauranga sunniest of NZ's six main centres. Photo/file
All other measures were normal, with a mean temperature of 15.2C, 0.3C higher than normal, and 2341 sunshine hours.
Te Puke recorded a number of extremes.
It had a near-record low rainfall for 2015, with 1320mm falling throughout the year - the fourth-lowest amount since records began in 1973.
The maximum temperature on November 9 of 27.4C was the equal highest on record for that month, and on May 8, the lowest temperature was 17.2C - the highest daily minimum temperature on record for the month.
The town also had its fourth-lowest maximum temperature since 1973, with July 8 only reaching 8.6C at its warmest point.
