The stats on today’s hot weather!

The 3 ingredients that make 40 degree temperatures over the nation haven’t all come together at the same time meaning no record breaking temperatures today however parts of New Zealand reached the mid to late 30s.

As we predicted yesterday northern Canterbury was the hottest part of the country – Culverden made it to 38 degrees, with 36 in Hamner Springs. Parts of inland Marlborough also reached 36,

In Northland temperatures officially reached 31 degrees this afternoon in Kaitaia, 30 in Kaikohe.

In Auckland the official high was 29 degrees, recorded at Whenuapai airbase, however temperatures in the low 30s were recorded within the city. “The humidex, which measures heat plus humidity to give a more accurate description of how the heat feels, was at 35 degrees in Auckland at 4pm” says head weather analyst Philip Duncan.

A a number of northern North Island regions such as Waikato, Coromandel, Bay of Plenty, Taupo and Gisborne reached 30 too along with similar humidity levels. “Most places north and east of Taupo felt like it was around the mid 30s today according to the humidex – some would’ve felt closer to 40”.

Southern Hawkes Bay and Wairarapa recorded air temperatures in the low to mid 30s with Masterton reaching 34.

In the South Island and a number of places cracked the 30 degree mark. Earlier this afternoon Oamaru jumped 10 degrees in just 10 minutes – from 23 to 33 as the hot nor’wester kicked in. At it’s peak Oamaru climbed to 34.

The nor’wester also lifted Dunedin and Timaru to the 33 degree mark however just up the road the predicted heat didn’t make it to Christchurch. “High cloud and a cooler north easterly breeze kept temperatures in the mid 20s for Christchurch. As we said yesterday we needed all 3 ingredients to come together at the same time to push temperatures to 40 – wind direction, clear skies and hot air. We had the hot air but certainly didn’t have the wind direction for this part of Canterbury” says Mr Duncan. “Further north and inland it was a very different story with temperatures 12 degrees higher than Christchurch”.

Despite thick cloud over Southland the thermometer climbed into the late 20s with a roaring nor’westerly that reached 100km/h at times in Gore. On exposed parts of Stewart Island gusts were recorded at 160km/h.

Smoke from the Australian bush fires has also had an impact on the South Island with a thick orange haze in the sky being reported to WeatherWatch.co.nz.