Warm start to spring for most places

Most areas of the country are warming up, just in time for spring.

MetService meteorologist Lisa Murray said there was a ridge of high pressure over the country which meant a mild start to the spring season for most regions.

However, Invercargill, Gisborne, Fiordland and Southland would get a few showers.

Niwa said unseasonable warmth across the east of both islands on Thursday and Friday could lift temperatures 5 to 10degC above the average maximum daily temperature.

Some places - possibly Canterbury or Hawke's Bay - might approach 25C as a classic foehn wind developed, Fairfax reports.

The start of the winter season was warmer than average across the country, Murray said.

"We were breaking maximum temperatures."

But July was "very variable" .

"It swung a bit from cold to warm," she said.

Then temperatures dipped in the first two weeks of August.

"Everyone was feeling the chill in the air.

"We went back to relatively normal temperatures and September looks relatively mild."

This year's winter temperature statistics

Statistics released by NIWA today revealed the highest winter temperature was 25.1C recorded at Napier on June 10.

This was also the highest winter temperature ever for Napier, NIWA forecaster Ben Noll said.

Gisborne also experienced its highest winter temperature on record with 23.2C on the same day.

Timaru was on track for its sunniest winter on record since 1930 with 510 hours of sunshine through to August 28.

Winter's lowest temperature was -17.8°C, at Takahe Valley, near Te Anau, on August 7.

The most rainfall over an hour for June in Auckland was between 1 and 2 pm on June 29 when 26.6mm of rain bucketed down on the city.

Waipara West, north of Canterbury was on track toward its second driest winter on record with just 73mm of rain through to August 28.

Milford Sound received the most rainfall this winter with 1660mm of rain from June 1 to August 29.

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