Taupō Weather Report: June milder and wetter than usual

It's beginning to look a lot like winter. Photo / Merv Richdale

Weather highlights for the end of June. Image / Supplied

The first month of the Taupō 2022 winter was milder and wetter than usual.

In fact, June was exceptionally wet. The total rainfall for the month of 207.5mm in 18 wet days made it the wettest Taupō month since August 2017, when 220mm fell over 22 wet days, and the wettest June since 2010 when 260mm was recorded over 19 wet days. That remains the wettest June on record.

While last month was wet, it was also mild for the first month of winter. The best indication of this is that there were just five frosts recorded and two of those were very light, the heaviest being -4.5C recorded on two occasions, June 5 and 23.

Last year, there were just four frosts in June while the average number of frosts expected for June is 11.

Last month, the average daytime maximum temperature was 12.7C, the average night-time minimum temperature was 4.6C, and the overall daily temperature averaged 8.6C, about 0.5C warmer than normal for June.

The warmest day, on June 7, had the maximum temperature for the month reach 17C. By contrast, the coldest night was June 5, when the minimum air temperature fell to -2.5C.

There was not a great deal of wind, with only one day exceeding 50km/h when the peak wind gust at Taupō Airport reached 59km/h, on June 13.

Ahead of us now is the midwinter month of July, renowned as being the coldest month of the year for Taupō.