August was wet, warm

August was cloudy, warm and very wet, the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (Niwa) says.

Rainfall was 1-1/2 times greater than usual for all of the North Island except Hawke's Bay, as well as in Nelson, Marlborough and parts of Canterbury and Otago. Rainfall was near normal for Hawke's Bay and the South Island's West Coast.

It was the wettest August on record for parts of the Bay of Plenty, Wanganui and Turangi but Fiordland and Southland recorded below normal rainfall.

And while it may have been wetter than usual, it was also warmer. Temperatures were 0.5degC to 1.2degC warmer nationwide. The only exception was eastern Otago, where it temperatures were 0.5degC cooler than average.

Nationally, the average temperature was 9.6degC, 0.9degC above the 1971-2000 August average.

The month was also cloudy, with sunshine totals below between 75 and 90 percent of normal across the North Island and for inland and eastern areas of the South Island.

Motueka had the highest temperature, its 21.9degC on the 15th setting a new August record, while Tekapo had the lowest temperature with -12.6degC on August 10.

- NZPA