If you felt autumn had started early in Dunedin you would not be far wrong, as the latest weather figures show the city to be the wettest and coldest of the six main centres during February.
The city and the region had been heading for a record dry month, but two days of rain changed that.
Instead, the city received 123mm of rain, nearly double its normal February rainfall.
Cromwell recorded its highest February rainfall, 88mm, and Alexandra and Balclutha their fourth highest, with 76mm and 101mm respectively, Niwa's national climate summary for February shows.
Dunedin received only 71% of its normal February sunshine, with 108 hours - the third lowest since 1947 - and recorded a mean temperature of 14degC, 1.2degC below normal.
It was 2degC below Christchurch and Wellington's 16degC and well below their sunshine hours of 150 and 148 respectively.
Dunedin also recorded its second-lowest average maximum temperature of 16.5degC (2.4degC below normal), as did Balclutha with 17.6degC (2.4degC below normal). Oamaru recorded its fourth lowest with 17.5degC (3.1degC below normal).
Cromwell, Alexandra and Balclutha all recorded extreme one-day rainfalls on the 22nd with 42mm, 38mm and 50mm respectively.
Senior climate scientist Georgina Griffiths said February's weather was characterised by highs to the southeast of New Zealand and more lows than normal over the Tasman Sea producing more easterly winds than usual over the country.
"It was an extremely cloudy month for much of the country, due to both the moist easterly wind flows, and cooler than usual seas around New Zealand."
The nationwide average temperature for February was 16.4degC, 0.8degC below normal.
Soil moisture levels by the end of February were above normal in Otago, while soils were drier than normal in coastal Southland.
