City swelters on Saturday, is soaked on Sunday
ONE day you can be basking in the scorching summer sun and the next reaching for an umbrella.
On Saturday, sweltering beachgoers cooled off by swimming and surfing at Dunedin beaches as the city enjoyed its hottest day of the summer.
But yesterday rainjackets rather than togs were essential as more than 33mm of rain fell on the city.
MetService meteorologist Melissa Oosterwijk said a high of 31.7degC was recorded in the city centre on Saturday, the fourthhighest in the country and highest temperature for a main centre.
Elsewhere in the South: Invercargill reached 27degC, Queenstown 26.7degC, Alexandra 28.9degC, Wanaka 26degC and Oamaru topped out at 30.1degC.
Yesterday, a front brought heavy rain to the region and warnings were issued for Dunedin and North Otago.
The heaviest rainfall was in the lakes region, with 85mm falling at Mt Aspiring.
Keen Dunedin surfers Homa Mattingly and his wife Tash revelled in the hot weather on Saturday, having had a surf in the morning, a swim in the afternoon, and a later enjoyable encounter with a mobile ice cream truck.
‘‘It’s exceptionally warm, it’s nice, it’s good.’’ Mr Mattingly said of the weather.
‘‘It’s living the Dunedin dream,’’ Mrs Mattingly added.
‘‘We took the kids out for a swim,’’ she said.
Their daughter Alaia (8) also enjoyed a cooling ice cream.
Mr Mattingly joked that North Islanders often misunderstood Dunedin’s weather, imagining that it was almost always cold and snowy.
Mr Mattingly was happy to enjoy Dunedin without having too many northern newcomers joining in.
‘‘Don’t tell anyone,’’ he added with a smile.
The city’s surf lifesaving guards were also busy on Saturday as people flocked to the city’s beaches.
More than 1500 people were on the sand or in the water at St Clair throughout the day, while a similar number flocked to St Kilda, and Brighton was also busy, life guards said.
Guards at St Kilda and St Clair performed a total of 12 rescues, but all were relatively minor, involving swimmers getting out of their depth or being caught in rips.
None required medical treatment after being helped from the water.
The same hot weather which had brought delight to Dunedin beachgoers also posed fire risks in inland rural areas where there were several fires, including a large forestry blaze near Lumsden.
Having missed out on Saturday’s summer weather, passengers from the cruise ship Radience of the Seas had to find more rainappropriate activities.
Carol Sohn and Darryn Bromley, of Darwin, said they did not mind the rain and after a week of sailing they were just pleased to be off the ship.
There were worse things to do than wander around the ‘‘beautiful’’ Dunedin Botanic Garden in the rain, Mr Bromely said.