Dry July - the weather joins in

Dry July - the weather joins in

"July is traditionally a rather wet month in New Zealand," said MetService Meteorologist Georgina Griffiths. "But this year, a combination of more southerlies than usual and spells of high pressure over New Zealand means that we're expecting a relatively dry July."

July rainfall is expected to be below normal for most regions of the country. The exceptions are eastern areas of both Islands, where near normal July rainfall totals are forecast.

"While the southerlies and highs over New Zealand cause us to accumulate less rain than is normal, we certainly cannot rule out extreme rain events, " Griffiths noted. "As always, follow the MetService forecasts and weather warnings."

In the tropics, El Nino continues to strengthen, reaching levels last seen in 1997/98. International climate models indicate further intensification of this event, with a solid chance that it will continue into early 2016.
El Nino typically reaches full strength towards the end of the calendar year.

"Seas around the New Zealand coastline are now cooler than normal,consistent with changes we typically see here during an El Nino winter," said Griffiths. "Sea temperatures are important for us, because to a certain extent they influence air temperatures in our coastal regions."

After a warm start to the month, temperatures are forecast to slide below average next week. However, temperatures should then move closer to average for the second half of the month. "We expect temperatures to continue to swing as we move into July, but settle near average for the month as a whole", commented Griffiths.

For further information, the latest Rural Outlook can be found atwww.metservice.com/rural/monthly-outlook.

And as always, keep up to date with the latest forecasts and any watches/warnings at metservice.com or on mobile devices atm.metservice.com. You can also follow our updates on MetService TV, at MetService New Zealand on Facebook, @metservice on Twitter and atblog.metservice.com

ENDS

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