Scorching summer a record breaker

Not only was the 2017/2018 summer New Zealand’s hottest on record, a meteorologist says a particularly tropical week in Auckland was comparable to living in Fiji.

Niwa scientist Ben Noll said Auckland had endured climate conditions similar to Fiji or New Caledonia for a near five-day period from February 5.

That was when the dew point, a measure of both humidity and temperature, for Auckland failed to drop below 19 degrees Celsius for 115 hours. ‘‘It was as if you were transported 5 or 10 degrees north in latitude for a period of time.’’

Overall, it has been the country’s hottest summer on record – and it’s not finished yet. Data released yesterday by the climate agency showed temperatures were running 2.3C above average.

You would have to go back more than 80 years to 1934/1935 to find our next hottest summer – which was still half a degree colder than what Kiwis have been experiencing this season.

And there’s still five days left in summer for this year’s record-breaking average to push higher. Well above-average sea temperatures around New Zealand have been credited – or blamed – for

You would have to go back more than 80 years to 1934/1935 to find our next hottest summer.

boosting these summer highs.

Noll said since November, there had been ‘‘three distinct peaks when sea surface temperatures were between two and four degrees above average’’. They were ‘‘mid-December, late January and midlate February’’.

In some areas, sea temperatures spiked at 6C or 7C above average. ‘‘This represented some of the largest ocean temperature anomalies anywhere in the world over the last several months.’’

With this season’s balmy to uncomfortably hot temperatures came extreme weather events.

Warmer seas allowed marauding subtropical cyclones like Gita to barrel south onto New Zealand, endangering lives as well as damaging land and property.

Auckland even turned tropical for a five-day period starting on February 5, Noll said – making the city more like Fiji or New Caledonia.

❚ 108 places across New Zealand recorded their hottest summer on record, 21 their second hottest and eight their third hottest.

❚ In Alexandra, on January 30 the temperature reached 38.7 degrees Celsius. On the same day, Clyde got to 37.6C, Middlemarch 37.4C and Cheviot 37.3C – together these comprise the hottest temperatures of summer.

❚ Wellington had 17 days above 25C this summer – the city’s average is two.

❚ Auckland usually has 29 summer days above 25C, this year there have been 47 – the highest since records began at Auckland Airport in 1966.

❚ Christchurch had temperature highs of 33C, 32C and 35C over December, January and February, with an average temperature of 23C. About 261mm of rainfall has been recorded since December.

❚ Auckland’s dew point temperatures (humidity) failed to drop below 19C for five days this month, making for a rare 115-hour period of very high humidity.

❚ Wellington copped a dew point temperature of 22C at 6pm on February 11 – a new record high.