2 February 2004

Wellington weather very wet

The rainfall during January 2005 was significantly greater than normal in many parts of the Wellington region, following on from a very wet 2004. Last year was 20-80% wetter than normal across the whole Wellington region, according to the latest statistics from Greater Wellington.

Regional council hydrologist Laura Watts says 2005 has started wetter than normal in most places, particularly on the Kapiti coast and in the Hutt valley. "For January Waikanae had 260% of its average rainfall for that month, while Otaki and Mangaroa also recorded around twice the usual January rainfall".

Rainfall totals for the month were boosted by the storm event on 5 January, when the Kapiti Coast, Hutt Valley and Tararua ranges received more than the average January rainfall total within 24 hours. However, the last two weeks of January were very dry, with river flows are starting to become low, she days.

In contrast to the wet weather in the western part of the region, parts of the Wairarapa had low rainfall totals during January due to the predominantly northwesterly conditions. "In the eastern Wairarapa hills we recorded less than 20mm of rain for the month - which is only about a quarter of the average rainfall for January in this area," says Watts.

Greater Wellington monitors rainfall at more than 40 sites around the region, along with the river and lake levels, and bathing water quality over summer. More information on rainfall and other environmental monitoring data is now available on Greater Wellington's new website www.gw.govt.nz http://www.gw.govt.nz/

ENDS

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