Cold but dry October ahead for Rotorua

Molly Stewart, 6, out enjoying the spring sunshine in Jean Batten Square. Photo / Stephen Parker

Rotorua residents should enjoy the sunshine this week with chilly weather expected to return next week.

Metservice meteorologist Georgina Griffiths said September had Rotorua's fifth lowest recorded rainfall since records began in 1963, with 52.4mm of rain measured at the airport station.

"The average for this time of year is 110mm, so you're looking at below half the standard rainfall, about 48 per cent."

She said while the weather had been particularly dry for this time of the year, the temperature had remained average at 10.1C.

Local weatherman Brian Holden measured the rainfall at 74.5mm for the month at his Springfield weather station.

That was 54 per cent of his long-term average of 137mm.

Griffiths said the low rainfall was typical of what MetService had seen across the lower North Island because of long southeasterly weather events.

At his Springfield station, Holden recorded 13 days of southeasterly wind during September, bringing three frosty evenings on September 9, 10 and 11.

In the second half of the month, temperatures rebounded, becoming higher than usual.

Holden's maximum recorded temperature was on September 20, when it reached 23.8c.

Looking forward to October, the dry spell is expected to continue, but with the wind expected to change to cooler southwesterlies, the temperature will likely drop.

MetService's October outlook predicts "well below average" temperatures across the country.

"October is a time of year in which temperatures typically increase sharply," it said.