Why NZ’s summer weather is so unsettled

Te Whanganui-a-Tara - Aotearoa is experiencing ongoing weather
that is not summery. A lot of wind and a lot of rain has been prevailing since
early December.

 Ōtautahi has only had two hot fine days. Every rain and wind event has specific reasons
for developing but it's sometimes worth just stepping back and looking at all
in a very simplistic way. Though not all summers are like this, it is simply
because of our location on earth.

 Aotearoa is mostly two large mountainous islands partially in the roaring forties and surrounded
by large oceans.

It's always exposed to significant change from the stormy Southern Ocean or the
mighty tropical Pacific to our north.

Large areas such as Australia, America and Europe tend to have more predictable
forecasts, or at least longer stretches of predictable weather.

 New Zealand much like Japan suffers from constant changes from warm to cold, dry to
wet, high pressure to low pressure, WeatherWatch says.

This weather pattern is also the reason why some Kiwis can wear t-shirts and shorts
in winter. It brings variety and plenty of fresh water to drink, but it can
also ruin some summer holidays with too much rain and wind.

While forecasters are receiving a lot of complaints and questions about the current
unsettled pattern, there's one group of New Zealanders quietly loving it after
the past several drier than average years, the farmers.

 Many farmers have told us they are ecstatic the grass is growing so much at this normally dry and
sometimes drought affected time of year.