Kiwis weathered some wild times

The Hacketts escaped the quake but not the Avondale twister. Photo / Richard Robinson

Things did not get off to a great start this year, and the cyclones that swung past New Zealand in January could have been an omen of the wild weather to come.

As New Zealanders returned from their summer holidays, the aftermath of tropical cyclones Vania and Zelia brought torrential rain and gales, leaving people to return to work amid flooding, slips and road closures over much of the North Island.

On the West Coast, locals near Punakaiki were forced to flee their homes when the Fox River burst its banks, and persistent rain in the Buller district caused mudslides that closed roads.

Although the funnel cloud that appeared over South Auckland in March was not the tornado many witnesses thought, several tornadoes did touch down in the following months, leaving trails of devastation.

In May, 37-year-old Benedict Dacayan was killed when a 200km/h twister ripped through the North Shore. Another 14 people were also injured in the freak weather moment.

The Kapiti Coast was hit by a tornado two months later, terrifying motorists whose cars were thrown about by the winds on State Highway 1. A Waikanae woman ended up in hospital after her caravan was thrown over by the twister and crushed beyond recognition.

In September, Auckland was hit again, leaving one family to ponder their ongoing bad luck. The Hackett family fled Christchurch after the city's first big earthquake in 2010, but found themselves at the centre of a new disaster when their Avondale house bore the brunt of the second Auckland twister.

In August, another weather event set social networking sites alight - with everyone eager to Facebook, tweet and post photos of the unusual white winter that struck Wellington and Auckland.

Flights were grounded, roads closed, power shut off, and postal services disrupted when 11cm of snow fell in parts of the capital.

Auckland also got in on the act, with snow falling on the city for the first time since the 1930s.

Down south, the polar blast was more trouble than fun for Canterbury residents struggling with damage from the February 22 earthquake.

In October, the cargo ship Rena ran aground off the Bay of Plenty coast, spilling hundreds of tonnes of oil into the sea. As high winds buffeted the ship, New Zealanders held their breaths to see if it would break up releasing more oil into the ocean.

A Wairarapa couple were left with broken legs after gale-force winds brought down a pine tree branch on them. Phil Rudman and his wife, Dale, were taking their daily walk when they heard a loud crack above them. They woke to find themselves on the ground surrounded by branches.

Closing in on 2012, Nelson was forced to declare a state of emergency when the Tasman district was drenched by record rainfall little more than a week before Christmas.

Dozens were evacuated as mud poured into their homes and slips left their houses perched precariously on cliff edges. People were trapped when mudslides destroyed roads, and debris and flood waters cut off access to parts of the region.

Two tourists who wanted to take a look at the flooded Maitai River ended up stuck in a tree for more than an hour before rescuers in a boat came to their aid. Civil Defence described the flooding as "well in excess" of a one-in-100-year event.

Here's hoping for a less soggy summer in the New Year.