By the numbers: How many consecutive days has Auckland had no rain?
Its been raining, for so long, Dragons iconic 1984 lyrics have come true for Tamaki Makaurau, as rain continues to grip the region. Between the Auckland Anniversary flooding and Cyclone Gabrielle , most wont be surprised to learn that its been an especially wet year. From July 2022 to June 2023, Auckland has set a record for rainfall accumulation with 1964mm falling over the last 365 days. But how do the numbers stack up? Why is it raining so much? Are we to expect more rain? READ MORE: * Environment Southland cancels all winter grazing abatement notices * Live: Heavy snow, rain and gales sweep New Zealand * New global climate chief accused of appearing to forget Pacific islands According to MetService, the amount of consecutive days Auckland has gone without rain is seven, from Friday, March 3, to Thursday, March 9. MetService forecaster Gerard Bellan said a significant cause to the large amount of rainfall seen so far in Auckland this year was due to the La Nina event earlier this year. You had that La Nina weather pattern that had low pressure systems coming down from the tropics to the country that had quite a lot of rain, he said. Its changing now, were transitioning to an El Nino stage, which means weather systems coming from the normal area, the Tasman Sea. Both climate drivers influence rainfall, temperature, and wind patterns around the world, including New Zealand. La Nina and El Nino episodes occur on average every few years and can last up to a year or two. An El Nino climate cycle is when ocean water from off the coast of South America to the central tropical Pacific warm above average. The warming takes place as trade winds weaken or even reverse, blowing warm water from the western Pacific towards the east. As a result, sea temperatures in the far western Pacific can cool below average. The unusually warm water in the eastern Pacific then acts as a focal point for cloud, rainfall, and thunderstorms. Auckland has experienced an average rainfall of 1258.6mm of rain so far this year and its only August. In 2022 the city was hit by 709.4mm, and in 2021 it was 464.4mm. In June, Auckland officially recorded its average annual rainfall, with rainfall monitor at Auckland Airport ticking over 1193mm of rain, 3mm above the supercitys annual norm. Translated to an average rainfall per day, (by dividing the figures by 214), the average daily rainfall in Auckland for 2023 is 5.9mm per day. In 2022, it was 3.3mm, and in 2021 it was 2.2mm. Bellan said another factor to the weather was climate change . With climate change you get global warming, which means the air gets warmer, the atmosphere holds a lot more moisture as the air warms, he said. So thats why we see downpours, weve seen this around the world. Four people died and an estimated $1.7 billion of property damage occurred during the Auckland Anniversary flooding, when a storm from the tropics unleashed over the largest city. But rather than being a stand-out event, the storm was just one of many affecting the upper North Island. Bellan said examples of climate change influencing the weather could be seen all over the world.