May 200 per cent wetter for some - NIWA

Motorists make their way through floodwaters in Papamoa after a huge amount of rain fell in the Bay of Plenty early this week. Photo / Alan Gibson

A record for the highest one-day rainfall was set last month as average rain levels more than doubled in some regions, NIWA's National Climate Centre says.

May was a stormy month, with more lows over the Tasman Sea and higher pressures east of the Chatham Islands whipping up more wind and rain, a May climate report released today said.

Soil moisture levels were at capacity in most regions, it said.

Rainfall was 200 per cent greater than normal in Nelson, Marlborough, Canterbury, eastern Otago, Coromandel, Bay of Plenty, Hawkes' Bay and coastal Wairarapa.

The highest one-day rainfall of 153mm, recorded at Whakatane Airport on May 24, was a May record.

While much of the country was water-logged, the West Coast, Fiordland and Southland recorded less than 50 per cent normal May rainfall.

Temperatures were relatively consistent - above average in Wairarapa, Nelson, Westland, Fiordland and Christchurch and average almost everywhere else.

The report said the national average temperature for May was 11.3degC, 0.6degC higher than the 1971-2000 average.

The highest temperature of 25.1degC was recorded in Motueka on May 13.

Sunshine levels varied nationwide, with extremely cloudy weather for Nelson, Marlborough, coastal mid-Canterbury, Wellington and Wairarapa and "rather sunny" weather for Westland, Fiordland, Southland, the central North Island and Auckland.

Of the six main centres, Auckland and Tauranga were the warmest, Tauranga was the wettest but sunniest, Christchurch the coolest, and Hamilton the driest.

- NZPA