Tawa’s dry April continues, with only patchy light rain falling in the area overnight.
Sunday, 24th April 2016
Tawa’s dry April continues, with little or no rain recorded overnight. It’s now been 19 days since the Tawa weather station recorded any rainfall. While light rain was heard on the roof in the early hours of this morning the station, which records rainfall in 1 mm increments, failed to register any rain.
The grass was damp this morning, so either the rain was less than 1 mm, or it evaporated from the gauge faster than it could accumulate in the mild conditions overnight. The temperature didn’t fall below 16°C until 3 a.m.
A manual gauge on the flat in central Tawa recorded less than 2 mm.
Rainfall recorded at nearby private weather stations is as follows:
Pukerua Bay: 0.5 mm overnight, 30.7 mm month to date
Whitby: 1.8 mm overnight, 26.4 mm for April
Linden: 2.7mm overnight, 5.4 mm for April
Tawa: 0 mm overnight, 21 mm for April
Hampton Gate, Johnsonville: 3.3 mm overnight, 30.5 mm for April
Met Service, at their Kelburn weather station in Wellington, recorded 3.8 mm overnight, bringing their total to 33.8 mm for April.
Tawa Weather has been recording Tawa’s weather since 2005, and April rainfall has been highly variable during that time. Averaged over the eleven years 2005 to 2015, Tawa typically gets 79 mm of rain during April.
However, April 2010 was dry, with only 33 mm of rain recorded. April 2012 was little better with 34 mm, and 2005 with 35 mm. In contrast, 142 mm was recorded for April 2014 (the wettest April recorded by the station) and 111 mm in 2011.
With only 21 mm having been recorded to 23rd April 2016, it is possible that a new April dry record may be set for the station’s twelve-year operation. But weather can be fickle, and one nice wet day could upset the apple cart.
One thing’s for sure. The shrubs could do with a good soak for their feet, and a nice sluicing of their dusty leaves.