If autumn 2026 felt more like summer than the actual summer did, it may be because parts of Otago and Southland had their second-warmest, driest and windiest autumn on record.
Earth Sciences New Zealand climate scientist Gregor Macara said between March and May, the weather was generally settled with slow-moving high pressure systems dominating southern regions.
He said El Nino Southern Oscillation-neutral conditions were present in the tropical Pacific throughout autumn and sea surface temperatures (SSTs) surrounding New Zealand were generally above average, particularly off the coast of the South Island.
It drove the nationwide average temperature in autumn 2026 to 13.7°C, making it New Zealand’s 30th-warmest autumn since records began in 1909.
But in southern Southland, Fiordland, Dunedin, inland Canterbury and the West Coast, autumn temperatures were above average. The remaining areas of the southern regions were near average.
It meant near-record daily maximum air temperatures for autumn were recorded at Dunedin (Musselburgh) on March 6, when the mercury hit 30.4°C - its second-highest autumn temperature since records began in 1947 - and at Nugget Point, which also recorded its second-highest temperature when it reached 28.3°C on the same day.
Alexandra reached its third-highest with 32.3°C on March 7 (which was also the nation’s highest autumn 2026 temperature), and Oamaru had its third-equal-highest with 30.1°C on March 6.
Autumn rainfall was below normal for coastal and Central Otago and it was especially dry for Ranfurly and Clyde, where rainfall totals were less than 50% of normal.
It was also a dry season in Dunedin, where total rainfall was 94mm - just over half of normal.
The amount of rain was near normal for the rest of the southern regions.
The only rainfall record that came close to being broken was in Balclutha, where 60mm of rain on April 27 set the second-highest autumn extreme one-day rainfall total.
Soil moisture at the end of autumn was lower than normal for Otago and near normal for Southland and the West Coast.
Overall, it was relatively dry for the regions.
Ranfurly was New Zealand’s driest autumn location relative to normal, recording just 41mm of rain (39% of normal). It was its second-driest autumn since records began in 1897.
While 182mm of rain may seem a reasonable amount, it was low enough to give the usually wet area of Tiwai Point its second-driest autumn on record too.
The only other record to come close to breaking was the autumn extreme wind gust in Alexandra, which clocked 119kmh on May 17 - its second-highest autumn gust.
