2005 a year of extreme weather, says NIWA report

A destructive tornado in Greymouth, catastrophic floods in the North Island, an unseasonably late snowstorm in Canterbury and warmer than average temperatures nationwide provided a year of extreme weather around the country in 2005.

NIWA's National Climate Centre today released details of the country's climate in 2005, revealing a mixed bag of weather.

The year was marked by too little rain in some places, and too much in others, NIWA's principal scientist Dr Jim Salinger said.

"Rainfall during the year was less than 75 per cent of normal over much of the South Island whereas severe flooding in the Bay of Plenty in May caused widespread damage," he said.

Gisborne also suffered severe flooding in October and November.

However, it was one of the driest years on record for parts of Marlborough, Canterbury, Northland, Nelson and the West Coast.

The national average temperature was 13.1 degrees Celsius, making 2005 the fourth warmest year nationally since reliable records began in the 1860s.

Nelson had the most sunshine with 2571 hours, followed by Tauranga with 2495 hours, and Blenheim with 2466 hours.

Auckland was the sunniest main centre with 2254 hours, followed by Wellington with 2211 hours, Christchurch with 2055 hours and Dunedin with 1807 hours.

The highest recorded wind gust for 2005 was 174km/h at Southwest Cape, Stewart Island, while sea temperatures were 0.5 degrees Celsius above average.

The tornado that ripped through Greymouth in March causing millions of dollars worth of damage wasn't the only one. Twelve damaging tornadoes (or events attributed to tornadoes) struck in 2005.

Anticyclones and northeasterlies made February one of the warmest on record, with temperatures exceeding 35degC in inland areas of the South island.

Extreme temperatures saw the mercury rocket to 38.7deg in Alexandra, Central Otago, in February, and plummet to -9.5degC in Ophir, 25km northeast of Alexandra, in July.

- NZPA