Auckland breaks weather record with 40 days of no rain

Saturday, 15 February 2020

MetService's forecast for the weekend.

Auckland has broken another record this summer - topping the charts for number of days without rain.

Saturday marked 40 consecutive days since the region last had rainfall, breaking the previous record of 39 days set in 2013.

'Auckland's dry spell has reached 40 days,' Niwa said on Twitter.

'It's longest on record.'

* Auckland set to break longest dry spell on record with 40 days of no rain

* Whangārei breaks weather record with hottest ever temperature of 33.5 degrees Celsius

* 'Severe meteorological drought' hits areas of Northland and Auckland**

The New Zealand Drought Index showed severe meteorological drought was widespread across Northland, Auckland, and northern Waikato.

Meteorological drought has also emerged in northern Gisborne and northern Canterbury. Much of the rest of the country was unusually dry, except for the western and lower South Island.

Niwa forecaster Ben Noll earlier said the minimum amount of water in the soil that a plant required not to wilt or die was being approached in Northland, Auckland, and Waikato.

When this video was first published on February 13, there were real fears the Northland town of Kaikohe could run dry.

'Soil moisture deficit levels during early 2020 are quite similar to 2013, with Northland's deficits even more severe this year,' he said.

The summer of 2012-13 featured one of the worst droughts in decades for parts of Northland, Auckland, Waikato, Bay of Plenty, Hawke's Bay, and the western South Island.

Noll said the drought has been caused by a blocking ridge of high pressure near the North Island that has helped steer dry, westerly quarter winds from Australia for much of the summer.

'The drought will end when soil moisture levels return to normal. However, impacts of drought can continue for some time after that,' he said.

Niwa's climate projections indicate that drought was likely to become more frequent and severe in eastern and northern parts of New Zealand in the coming decades.

A dry spell is defined as consecutive days with less than 1 mm of rain.

WATER USE IN AUCKLAND

On Monday, Watercare launched a campaign to urge Aucklanders to treat water as precious.

Head of water value Roseline Klein said the city had smashed its consumption record twice since the start of the month.

On February 4, Aucklanders used a whopping 561 million litres.

One way Aucklanders could help reduce water usage was by taking shorter showers. If everyone had just four minute showers, it would reduce water usage by 80 million litres a day, Klein said.

Auckland Council has also opened its facilities to aid rural communities struggling with shortage of water.

More than 20,000 Auckland residents who rely on rain water are experiencing water shortages as their tanks dry up.

Rural residents west, northwest and north of Auckland face waits up to six weeks long to buy water for their tanks.

Warkworth Town Hall, Wellsford Community Centre, Helensville Library and Te Puru Community Centre in Beachlands opened on Friday for people to collect water for domestic use.

People can also have a shower and fill up water containers at council leisure centres around the region.

They are: Franklin Pool and Leisure Centre, Pukekohe; Jubilee Swimming Pool and Aquatic Centre, Pukekohe; Whiteside Pool, Waiuku; Massey Park Pool, Papakura; Stanmore Bay Pool and Leisure Centre and Albany Stadium Pool.