Rotorua rain heads for 50-year record

Rotorua has already had more rain than it would normally get in a year and, with more on the way, the city may break a 50-year-old record.

So far this year, the city has had 1825mm of rain, more than the normal annual total of 1513mm, according to weatherman Brian Holden. The highest annual rainfall of 2047mm fell in 1971. Last month, Rotorua had 195mm of rain, compared with the usual October total of 125mm.

Mr Holden said current rain patterns were showing no signs of change and the annual rainfall could reach or exceed the record.

In October, it did not rain on only eight days and the highest amount, 38mm, fell on October 11. On October 3, when 36mm fell, the city experienced thunderstorms and the strongest wind gusts for the month - 55km/h (30 knots).

October was also a very warm month, with maximum temperatures of between 20C and 23.4C on nine days. Mr Holden said 23C was "unseasonably hot" for October.

The average maximum temperature during October was 18C, while the average temperature at 8am was 10.5C.

Metservice meteorologist Daniel Corbett said there could be showers tomorrow morning but the weather would be fine for Guy Fawkes night and it was expected to be fine most of next week, with temperatures reaching 20C.

Showers were expected tomorrow morning in Taupo and in the morning and at night on Sunday. Next week was expected to start with fine weather, followed by rain towards the end of the week.

Last month was warmer than usual for October in Taupo.

Local weatherman Walter de Bont said the month had the fewest sunshine hours of any October since he began taking records 49 years ago.

Average temperatures were about 1C higher than usual.

The warmer conditions, particularly overnight, were caused by cloudy skies which meant it didn't get as cold and, as a result, there were fewer frosts.

As in other parts of the country, Taupo also had more rain than normal last month with just 13 days when there was no rain.

Mr de Bont said that while many of the other days had a smidgen of rain - less than 1mm - October's rainfall was up 14mm on the average.

He said he expected November could also be a wet month in Taupo because the past four Novembers had been much drier than normal.

In Whakatane, showers were expected at the weekend but no rain was forecast for Monday through to Wednesday.