Weather Eye with John Maunder

Rainfalls in Tauranga in the month of April were the third wettest since records began in 1898.

The graph shows the range of rainfalls from a high of 383mm in 1911 to a low of 10mm in 1958.

The rainfall for April 2013 was 286mm - a 'near record” rainfall showing that sometimes a 'near record” wet month sometimes hides a very dry first two or three weeks of the month.

The second wettest April was 1948 when 333mm was recorded, and the second driest was April 2010 with only 12mm. The long-term average rainfall for Tauranga for April is 120mm.

The graph show a small decease in the rainfall over the last 50 years compared with the first 50 years of the record from 133mm to 110mm.

This can be compared with the months of January, February and March over the same 110 years showing small decreases in the January and February, and a small increase in March. Since 1898, there have been 17 April months with a rainfall of 200mm or more, but only eight April months with rainfalls of 30mm or less.

For further information Google ”Dr John Maunder” or log onto https://sites.google.com/site/climaterisksandbenefits/