-
Source: ONE News -
Watch Video
-
View Photos
-
Related
Nelson has been crowned the sunniest centre of 2009, eclipsing Tauranga and Blenheim.
Niwa's Annual Climate Summary shows Nelson recorded 2,571 hours of sunshine in 2009, followed by Tauranga with 2,540 hours, then Blenheim with 2,477 hours.
In 2009 controversy raged when the title of sunniest town was taken from Whakatane because of dodgy weather readings.
And now it has lost again, this time because its brand new sunshine reader took four months to perfect, and again that has sparked anger.
"You have only got to go to the campgrounds over there now and they are full, go to the camp grounds in nelson right now and i believe they are quite empty," says Whakatane Deputy Mayor Graeme Hanlen.
Of the main centres, Tauranga was the warmest and sunniest, Wellington was the wettest, and Christchurch was the driest.
Niwa says 2009 was a year of extreme temperature swings. Check out 2009's weather summary for your region.
Heat waves occurred in January and the start of February, May was the coldest on record, October had its lowest temperatures since 1945 and August was the warmest August ever.
In individual months, especially September and November, daily temperatures frequently broke long-standing records, with extremely cold temperatures often occurring within a week or so of record hot events.
Overall, there were two months with above average temperatures and four with below average temperatures.
For the year as a whole, temperatures were near average, being within 0.5ýC of the long-term average for most of the country.
But temperatures were between 0.5 and 1.0ýC cooler than average in parts of Auckland, Waikato, Manawatu, southern Hawke's Bay, Wairarapa, Wellington, Marlborough, inland Canterbury, and eastern Otago.
The national average temperature for 2009 was 12.3ýC, 0.2ýC below the long-term normal.
The years 2000-2009 were a warm decade overall, with a 10-year
average temperature of 12.6ýC, 0.1ýC above the
1971-2000 normal.
Rainfall during the year was below normal (50 to 80% of normal) in
parts of Auckland, central North Island, northern Hawke's Bay,
southern Wairarapa, north Canterbury, inland south Canterbury, and
central Otago. Other areas received near-normal rainfall.
Niwa says the broad climate setting changed from La Nina at the start of the year, to moderate El Nino conditions by the spring of 2009.
Notable climate features of 2009 in various parts of the country included the record warmth of January, the heatwaves of early February, and the record cold and extreme wet of May.
At the end of June, Gisborne declared a State of Emergency due to flooding.
An unusually icy, snowy period prevailed throughout June and July, followed by the record warmth of August, which contributed to a severe avalanche season.
Unseasonable snowfalls then characterised the coldest October in 64 years.
An extremely windy and dry November and December followed, resulting in significant soil moisture deficits in Northland, Central North Island, Canterbury, and Otago.
