WELLINGTON, May 30 (Xinhua) -- With just a few days of autumn left, prolonged warm weather and less rain than normal means some spots across New Zealand are heading for the record books.
A spate of prolonged fine weather, particularly in the South Island, has seen several places edging closer to their warmest autumn on record, said the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) climate scientist Nava Fedaeff on Thursday, adding they will release an official Autumn Climate Summary next week.
Dry conditions will be a key feature of the autumn summary and many locations in New Zealand are currently experiencing their driest autumn on record, Fedaeff said.
The warmth has largely been a result of a lack of southerlies and frequent bouts of high pressure. The seas around New Zealand also remain warmer than average which has also contributed to warmer temperatures, she said.
These factors are in addition to climate change which contributes to the observed above average temperatures. New Zealand has not experienced a nationwide monthly mean temperature that was below average since January 2017, said the climate scientist.
