THE Met Office’s forecast for the current winter was ‘stormy rather than snowy’. So far, so good, with December’s unsettled conditions continuing through January with no sign yet of a let-up. Some 29mm (1.14in) of rain in Wellington on New Year’s Day made it our wettest January day for eight years.

That marked the start of a mild, breezy week. There were frequent showers and longer spells of rain, but also good sunny spells, notably on January 3 and 7. On this latter date the wind eased, and a clear night sky resulted in a slight frost, our first for six weeks. It didn’t however herald an improvement. After a sunny morning, next day the wind strengthened once more from the south-west, with heavy showers that night. January 9 then proved to be a thoroughly wet day, with a further 14mm (0.55in), meaning that we had already received 70% of the month’s normal rainfall total.

After an overnight clearance, Sunday, January 10, began sunny. By lunchtime the sky was black, giving a shower, short-lived but intense, accompanied by hail and a solitary clap of thunder. The rest of the day was dull with further rain, and turning noticeably colder. A small depression then drifted across us and out over the North Sea, giving several quite chilly days with winds from a northerly point. There were sunny spells and heavy showers, and a couple of nights with a slight frost. The afternoon of January 14 was particularly sunny, with unusually good visibility.

By the weekend of January 16-17 a very cold anticyclone over Scandinavia was exerting its influence. An Atlantic frontal system stalled over us, making the Sunday wet and cold, followed by our first taste of continental winter conditions. We woke to a hard frost on January 19, and although the day was very sunny with little wind, the temperature reached only 2.0C (35.6F). Not surprisingly, after that, the next night was really cold. A minimum in Wellington of minus 6.8C (19.8F) was our lowest temperature for four years, though not notably cold for January. In spite of another day of glorious sunshine, the ground remained frozen in the shade.

Everything changed overnight. Very mild Atlantic air arrived on January 21, as the anticyclone retreated southwards. Perhaps because we are now so used to unseasonable warmth, the temperatures recorded on January 24 received little media attention. A maximum in Wellington of 14.4C (58F) equalled the January record, while some more sheltered sites in this area claimed readings in excess of 15.5C (60F). Ridiculous.

The last week of the month was extremely changeable, as deep depressions crossed Scotland. For us, it was often windy, with heavy rain on January 26 and 29. In contrast January 28 and 30 each offered several hours of sunshine. Temperatures ranged from freezing to above 13C. To sum up, Wellington’s mean temperature in January was a very mild 5.8C (42.4F), thanks to daytime maxima averaging two degrees above normal, and only six frosty nights. For the fourth year in a row, it was a wet month, the total rainfall of 130mm (5.1in) being 20% above normal. After 70 days with rain in the last three months, we could all do with a dry spell.

Simon Ratsey

(WWN Weather Correspondent)