Weather Eye with John Maunder

Rainfalls for the month of August have been recorded in Tauranga since 1898 (except for 1904, 1907, 1908, and 1909).

The graph shows the range of rainfalls from an extreme high of 274 mm in 2010 to a low of only 17 mm in 1914.

The second wettest July was 1916 when 263 mm was recorded, and the second driest July was in 1982 when only 31 mm fell. The long-term average rainfall for Tauranga for August is 124 mm. The rainfall for Tauranga for August 2013 was 70 mm.

The graph of the August rainfall shows normal variations from year to year. There is a small decrease in the overall August rainfalls during the last 50 years (1961-2010) from an average of 121 mm, compared with an average of 133 mm during the 50 years from 1911-1960.

Since 1898, there have been 15 August months with a rainfall of 200 mm or more (14 of which occurred during the period 1900 to 1976, and only one August month since then (which was the highest rainfall in any August), but only two August months with a rainfalls of 40 mm or less.