KEY POINTS:
The bad news is that summer is almost over. The better news is that we will have a few more weeks of good weather before it begins to gradually cool off.
Scientists said February was usually the most settled month of the year but added that temperatures in most centres would have peaked by now with a gradual cooling off in March - which marks the beginning of autumn - and April, where temperatures would be on a par with other years.
And while New Zealand is basking in a lovely February, the "hot" weather to date has been slightly cooler than averages for the month.
Niwa climatologist Stuart Burgess has supplied figures to the Herald which show the temperatures recorded at most airports so far are slightly below the 30-year average. While at Auckland Airport the average February temperature to date has matched the 24C average, other centres such as Hamilton, Tauranga, Gisborne, Napier, Nelson, Christchurch, and Dunedin were slightly lower.
Bucking the trend, Palmerston North has been 0.5C warmer than usual with temperatures so far averaging 23.7C.
Normal rainfall was also expected in the next couple of months but Auckland, Northland, Waikato and Gisborne could be a little drier than usual.
The Pacific El Nino, which increases the likelihood of cyclones in the eastern part of the region, had more or less passed.
There had been four tropical cyclones to date and an 80 per cent chance of one passing within 500km of New Zealand, most likely affecting the north and northeast of the North Island.
