January was warmer than usual while rainfall for the month was just slightly above normal – but with some big differences across the region. Waitotara at Ngutuwera had 53% less rain than usual while Uruti at Kaka Rd had 39% more. The average rainfall for the region was 108.4mm, 2% more than usual. The average air temperature for the region (excluding Te Maunga sites) was 18.2°C, which is 0.6°C warmer than long-term January averages. The highest temperature was 30.3°C at Waitotara at Hawken Rd.
owns the venue through the Taranaki Stadium Trust, said contractors had pulled out all the stops to get the roof done and dusted but the winter weather has meant the construction crew had been unable to complete this part of the project safely. “The team has worked very hard to get the roof installed in time for this season’s games but unfortunately the weather has not played ball. The project team had allowed for 25 rain days in the programme and the number of rain delay days to the project has
spring and summer, often bringing unsettled and showery weather. About 40% of
New Plymouth’s rain comes with winds from the north or north-east, usually falling
as steady rain for several hours or longer. South easterlies tend to be dry. The annual
rainfall for New Plymouth averages around 1500 mm. Rainfall across the region
varies from around 1000 mm on the southern coast, to 2000 mm at the highest points
of the ringplain around Stratford, and higher rainfall in the hill country and on Mt
page
Doc. No: 2835178
TARANAKI REGIONAL COUNCIL MONTHLY RAINFALL AND RIVER REPORT FOR July 2021
Provisional Data Only
Note: some sites record a number of parameters
Table 1: Rainfall at 27 sites throughout the region
Station Sub-region
Monthly Year to Date
Records Began Number of rain
days (>0.5mm)
Total Monthly
Rainfall (mm)
% of Monthly
Normal (%)
Total to date
(mm)
% of Normal for
year to date
% of average full
calendar year
Nth Egmont
August was exceptionally wet, with many rain-gauges collecting more than twice the typical rain for the month. The average was 176.6% of the long-term average, and ranged from 80% at Rimunui Station to 387% at Dawson Falls. Year to date rainfall is sitting between 113% (Manganui at SH3 Midhirst) and 211% (Dawson Falls) with an average of 141.7% of normal. Cape Egmont remains at around 211% of normal to date and has already received 95% of a typical year’s rain in eight months. Mean river flows
October was a relatively dry month for most of Taranaki with 115mm of rainfall – 30% less than usual. There was 48% less rain than normal at Brooklands Zoo in New Plymouth and the site also had the highest air temperature for the month at 25.6°C. Year to date rainfall ranges from 13% less rainfall at Uruti at Kaka Rd, and 10% more rainfall at Omaru at Charlies, with an average of 3% less than normal. Mean river flows for October were 28.3% lower than typical values while mean river
2015 with 15.192m
recorded as stage height at Riminui station, in the middle of the Waitotara
catchment. This compared with 13.5m at the same site recorded in 2004 and 10.8 in
July 2006.This was the highest water level recorded since the site was installed in
1993. Riminui recorded a total rainfall of 307.5mm (226% of normal) for the month of
June, with 174 mm of that total falling over the 19-20 June period.
Despite the high levels of rain and river flow, the peak flood levels in the
flank, causing fires in the native bush which swept 3km northwards across the western
slopes of the Pouakai Range (Druce, 1970, cited in Neall, 2003). 150 years later a pumice
lapilli fall and pyroclastic flows covered Maori villages, inferred from the discovery of Maori
ovens (umu) beneath the deposits. In 1755 A.D. small hot avalanches occurred from
eruptions at Taranaki. Recent evidence from Platz (2007) suggests that the most recent
eruption was between 1839 and 1866 A.D., and potentially in
relation to best practice irrigation onto high and low risk soils.
1.6 Application Depth
The volume of water applied during irrigation is referred to as the application depth. Farmers will make
reference to the amount of rain in their rain gauge in mm. For example, there was 4 mm of rainfall
yesterday. This relates to the formula 1mm of rain falling on 1 ha equals 10,000 litres. Using the example of
4mm of rainfall, this would equate to 40,000 litres of rain falling on each ha of land.
all this autumn colour means a lot of leaf fall and subsequent raking. To be honest, we sometimes run out of places to hide them. Thankfully, the idea of removing every leaf is fading away. The benefits of leaf litter, the fungi that consume it and recycling it into the soil are now being recognised. Our current process is to clear paths, chop up anything that falls on the grass and add it back to the turf. The general policy is to leave what we can to be broken down and added to the soil