Weather Watch: Spring rain and wind persist through October

Auckland's trial by rain stressed manholes in Milford. Photo / NZ Herald

September is finished and, in breaking news, it was windy. Niwa released its monthly review and said the spring westerlies arrived early in the month, bringing a very wet few weeks for the west and bottom of the South Island. By contrast it was dry in the east of both islands.

That's a fairly standard weather set-up for September - and is why WeatherWatch.co.nz had high confidence in our monthly report to Fonterra two weeks ago that October would be an extension of September's weather.

The westerlies not only dump all the rain over on the West Coast - but the clouds too.

Spring is the season with bipolar disorder. It is unpredictable and brings "mood swings".

This is reflected in the conversations Kiwis have - some who love this weather, others who hate it.

"Silly weather! The wind was so strong at one point my car was shaking! Sun is back. For now," writes Cindy Lewis.

Joanna Hale describes being caught in a squall: "Wow, that was intense but all gone now, lol ... spring , don't ya just love it springing back and forth - roll on summer weather!"

So what were Niwa's highlights for the month?

The highest temperature was 26C at Waiau, on September 30.

The lowest temperature was minus 8C, at Mt Ruapehu on September 13.

The highest one-day rainfall was 165mm at Milford Sound the next day.

The highest gust recorded was 169km/h at Southwest Cape, Stewart Island, on September 6.

Of the six main centres in September, Christchurch was the driest but also the coolest; Wellington was sunniest, Hamilton the cloudiest, Tauranga the warmest, and Auckland the wettest. Other highlights come from WeatherWatch:

Christchurch hit by a damaging, most spectacular thunder and hail storm on the second anniversary of the September 4 earthquake.

Seven days later it was hit again by a gale southerly and thunderstorms.

The final week of September was dominated by an unusual northerly flow, when westerlies more often prevailed, helping boost temperatures nationwide.