Rain brings end to record cold snap

by Samantha McQueen | 26th June 2009

The Bay's exceptional cold snap which has seen overnight June temperatures in Tauranga fall below 3C for nine consecutive days is unparalleled in Bay of Plenty Times weather records dating back to at least 1982.

Never in 27 years do our figures - recorded at Chapel St - show a colder or more long-lasting frosty spell in June.

MetService weather ambassador Bob McDavitt said average temperatures so far in June - at 9C - were almost two degrees colder than last year.

The cold snap has been felt by locals across the Bay since last Tuesday, with minimum temperatures falling below 2.5C each night.

On June 15 the overnight low was a relatively balmy 10.3C, which plummeted the following night to 2C and then fell further on the 17th and 18th to 1.8C and 1.9C respectively.

For six further days, the low did not climb above 2.5C, until last night when it rebounded to 4.6C.

Tauranga airport recorded the lowest minimum temperature of 0.5C on Friday June 19.

Powerco has recorded a 6 per cent increase in peak electricity demand on the coldest evenings in the Western Bay of Plenty this month, compared with June 2008.

However, some welcome relief is on the way.

Forecasters say nighttime temperatures are expected rise significantly over the weekend during to the northerly wind, jumping back to about 10C.

However, the MetService has said with the wind will come the rain, with showers developing this afternoon and carrying on through the weekend.

Metservice weather forecaster Geoff Sanders said Saturday would bring scattered periods of rain, but the worst of the rain would hit on Sunday.

The Metservice predicts up to 30mm could fall in Tauranga on Sunday as a strong easterly moves across the Bay.

Bay residents should expect warmer night temperatures to last until early next week, when a southerly breeze will bring another cold blast to the Bay.