Regions in tight race for sunshine honours
As the finish line approaches, this year’s sunshine race is again a battle for top of the south bragging rights.
Blenheim and Richmond are neck and neck, with a touch over two hours between them, and this close to the end, Marlborough scientist Rob Agnew says there is no way of knowing who will win.
Month on month, Blenheim and Richmond score pretty close in their sunshine hours, but a dull October in Richmond saw Blenheim close the gap by 20.8 hours.
Marlborough Mayor John Leggett said the race for New Zealand’s sunniest town title 2018 was coming down to a sprint finish.
"Blenheim is closing in on our friends over the hill in Richmond, which used to be called Nelson – but I don’t want to discuss ‘the Richmond incident’," Leggett said.
Richmond, close to Nelson, only installed a recorder halfway through 2015 and won the title two years on the trot. In 2016, Nelson tried to claim the Richmond win as their own.
For January to October this year, Richmond was top of the table with 2073 hours of sun, while Blenheim was second on 2070.2.
"It looks as though Blenheim has pulled well clear of the other South and North Island regions it’s just a matter of reaching the finishing line," Leggett said.
"Whichever way it goes, it looks like the top of the south will be the winner on the day."
Despite Nelson trying to ride the coat-tails of Richmond in 2016, a Nelson Council staffer on Friday directed all media requests to the Tasman mayor.
Tasman Mayor Richard Kempthorne said it was very exciting and agreed the race was on.
"Within the next two months, I’m expecting to have fine weather and lots of sun which will increase the lead of two hours to significantly more."
"What an awesome competition.