Taupō weather report: Winter’s icy fingers tighten their grip

A frosty start to the day. Photo / Warren Buckland

Winter began to bite last week in Taupō, when moderate to heavy frosts shot the grass minimum temperatures and the air minimum temperatures well below the normal for the first month of winter.

Last week’s weather was by way of complete contrast from the first 10 days of the month when temperatures were cool, but certainly more pleasant.

Last week frost was recorded on every day but one with three of those frosts, on Monday, June 12 reading -4.8C, June 15 -5.2C, and June 16 -4.5 degrees.

The average air minimum temperature last week was as much as 2.5C colder than the monthly average. This also brought the total number of frosts for the month to eight.

As the second wettest month of the year behind July, June so far has produced only a mere 12.5mm of rain. The driest June on record for Taupō occurred in 2017 when as much as 21mm fell over nine wet days.

Are we then heading for yet another record, albeit a driest one, with just 13 days remaining at the time of this weekly report, on Sunday?

The answer will be revealed in a fortnight.

The week ahead is likely to be warmer, because of an absence of frosts, meaning slightly warmer nights than last week.

It should also be remembered that Thursday, June 22, is the winter solstice which occurred at 2.57am. That is the time that the Earth’s axis will be furthest from the sun in Taupō and brings us the longest night.