Wet weather woes continue in Taupō

By Bevan Choat

Taupo & Turangi Herald·

6 Jun, 2023 12:00 AM2 mins to read

A praying mantis sits surrounded by fresh rain drops on a car window. Photo / Christine Cornege - NZ Herald

The new record rainfall for the month of May in Taupō; 254mm which fell on 22 days, was set last month and is the heaviest May fall since my personal meteorological records began here in 1968.

In May, 2001, the previous record produced 233.0mm on just 16 wet days.

The rainfall for May 2023 was more than twice the monthly average for May, 118.6mm.

Rain has been a feature this year as 741.5mm has fallen on 70 rainy days, while the average yearly rainfall for Taupo is 1276.8mm on 135 wet days.

So, at the end of May this year, Taupō’s rainfall is already 103.1mm beyond the half yearly total.

May 2023 produced generally average temperatures for the month, which started pleasantly mild and became cooler as the end of the autumn approached.

While five frosts were recorded during the month, these were mostly light with the heaviest frost of -3C occurring on Tuesday, May 13.

The warmest day saw the mercury rise to 20.3C on Friday, May 2.

The last few days of May 2023 were very foggy, with the fog not really lifting until late morning.

The month was mostly cloudy and sunless and the top wind gust of 57km/h was recorded at the Taupō Airport on May 20.

Ahead of us now is three months of a Taupō winter and it is likely to be very cold, with a predominance of westerly and south-westerly conditions brought about by the areas of high pressure and polar frontal systems that sweep up from the Southern Ocean and the Tasman Sea.

The high pressures should produce dry, cold and sunny conditions while the frontal systems will provide wet, windy and wintry weather in between.