Weather Eye with John Maunder

Temperatures have been recorded in the Tauranga area at several sites in the last 100 years, including the current Tauranga Airport site from June 1990.

The graph shows details of the average daily maximum temperatures (called simply "afternoon") for Tauranga for August from 1913-2013.

The long-term average afternoon temperature in August for Tauranga is 14.8 degrees C, ranging from the "cool" August months of 1932 (13.8 degrees C), and 1941 and 1992 (both 13.9 degrees C), to the "warm" August months of 2013 (16.7 degrees C), and 16.4 degrees in 1915.

The graph of the average afternoon temperatures for August shows generally "normal" variations from August to August during the last 100 years, but five of the last August months have been a little "warmer" than other August months since 1913. This includes August 2013, which was 1.9 degrees C above average and the warmest on record.

From 1913 to 2013, there have been 11 August months with an average afternoon temperature of 15.8 degrees C or more, and 13 August months with an average afternoon temperature of less than 14.3 degrees C.

The sixth "warmest" August months (in terms of afternoon temperatures) on record, in chronological order, are 1915, 1967, 1971, 2009, 2012, and 2013.

By contrast, the fifth "coolest" August months (in terms of afternoon temperatures) on record, in chronological order, are 1932, 1941, 1966, 1992, and 2004.

The average afternoon temperatures during August for the period 1914-62 were14.7 degrees, compared with 15 degrees from 1963 to 2011.