Warmest start to winter on record

AS the country marked the shortest day of the year yesterday, some towns and cities have experienced their warmest start to winter on record.

Niwa forecaster Christopher Brandolino said that 20 days into winter, Palmerston North and Whanganui had experienced their warmest average temperature for June since records began in 1928 and 1937 respectively.

Masterton was experiencing one of the mildest starts to winter on record, Brandolino said, adding that Whangarei was also off to a warm start.

The main centres were also having a better-than-average winter so far, with the average Auck- land temperature, measured at Whenuapai, coming in at the third-warmest since records began in 1945.

Although this month’s storm uprooted trees and cut off power for some Aucklanders for about a week, it also brought in some warm air, Brandolino said.

‘‘It was windy and wet but it wasn’t a cold rain.’’

Wellington’s average temperature so far this month was 2.1 degrees above normal, coming in at 11.8 degrees.

Meanwhile, Christchurch was 1.2 degrees Celsius above the normal average temperature for June at 8.1 degrees.

Brandolino said the simple explanation for the warm winter so far was a lack of southerly winds.

The top half of the country had had a wetter-than-normal start to winter, thanks largely to the storm earlier this month, but conditions in most of the country had been quite dry.

Looking ahead, the warmerthan-average temperatures were likely to continue, Brandolino said.

Although the outlook for the season’s average temperatures was good, Kiwis couldn’t rule out a few cold snaps, he said.

The east coast of the North Island and the top of the South Island should expect an aboveaverage rainfall for the rest of the winter as warm winds come in from the east.

The rest of the country’s rainfall should be about average, Brandolino said.