The sun was out, the temperature was up, and the togs were on, as people flocked to Rabbit Island during the weekend to enjoy perfect beach weather in time for the official start of summer.
It has been a warm start to summer and NIWA meteorologist, Chris Brandolino, says it’s likely to be a warmer-than-average summer in Nelson Tasman.
But there’s a bit of moisture around as well and if you want to go camping, the last half of summer may be drier.
By the time we get into the second week of December, the warm start has turned to rain and cooler temperatures, but that is likely to be gone by the time jingle bells is heralding the festive season.
Chris says a La Nina-like weather pattern will settle in for summer and that will bring more northeasterly winds which generally means “more days at the beach and more days outside”.
Much of the warmth is coming from the tropics and subtropics, he says, which brings moisture with the warmth. It means, over the three months of summer it may be warm, but potentially also above-normal rainfall for Nelson and Tasman.
In the Top of the South, drier conditions are more likely during the second half of summer.
At the same time, there’s the tropical cyclone risk toward the end of summer and he says New Zealand averages one cyclone event a year.
