Wet weather makes an impact

The passing of a trio of tropical cyclones blew hot and turned watery across the country last month and the Wanganui region did not escape the extremes either.
January's weather summary, prepared by Niwa's national climate centre, shows that rainfall across our district came close to setting records for the month.
The 156mm that fell in Wanganui was 250 per cent above normal for the first month of the year and third highest total since they began keeping such records back in 1890.
And the north of the district did not miss out on a decent drenching.
The 183mm that fell on Ohakune was the third highest since records began in 1961 (176 per cent above normal) while to the east the 159mm Waiouru received was 174 per cent above the usual January total and the fourth highest recorded since they started keeping the data 61 years ago.
The wettest day last month? For Wanganui, Ohakune and Waiouru it was Sunday, January 23 and the amounts were the highest since records started.
That day both the city and Ohakune got drenched with 125mm falling while 86mm fell on Waiouru.
Not surprisingly soil moisture readings showed much of the North Island, including our patch, were much higher than usual.
But while we got pelted with the rain there was plenty of sunshine hours recorded during the same 31 days too. In the Ruapehu district especially sunshine totals were 125 per cent above the norm.
And while the tropical cyclones passed through, January temperatures soared across the country. In the Wanganui region temperatures moved from 0.5C to 1.2C above the January average.
Wanganui and Ohakune recorded their second highest daily temperatures of 31.1C (January 18) and 29.5C (January 17) respectively.
RECORD-SETTERS
Highest temperature: 35.8°C at Timaru, January 16.
Lowest temperature: -0.1°C at Masterton, January 4.
Highest one-day rainfall: 276mm in the Firth of Thames, January 28.
Highest wind gust: 165km/h at Cape Turnagain, January 16.