The Meteorological Service of New Zealand (MetService) has said that 2022 had an average number of severe weather events, but several events broke rainfall and temperature records.
MetService recorded 53 severe weather events in 2022 and issued 182 severe weather warnings. Since introducing the colour-coded warning system in May 2019, it has issued eight red warnings, and four of those occurred last year.
The first red warning was in early February, with heavy rain impacting Westland, Buller, and Taranaki. According to MetService, 500 to 800mm of rain fell around parts of Westland in a 72-hour period. One station in Cape Egmont in Taranaki received a month’s worth of rain in just four hours.
The second red warning was in the last week of March for Gisborne, where heavy rain caused extensive damage, and a state of emergency was declared for the Tairawhiti region. The Tokomaru Bay bridge was washed out, isolating communities. Gisborne Airport recorded a month’s worth of rain in seven hours.
In mid-April, another red warning was raised for Gisborne due to Cyclone Fili. According to MetService, the event wouldn’t warrant a red warning on its own, but it decided on it since the region was still reeling from the previous severe weather event. The cyclone caused power outages, toppled trees, flooding and the isolation of more communities.
The fourth red warning was in mid-August for another flooding event for Westland, Buller, and Nelson. According to MetService, some stations in the ranges of Tasman recorded over 1,000mm of rain, with the Nelson Airport station recording four months’ worth of rain in three days. August was the second-wettest month in 80 years of records at that station. A state of emergency was declared in Nelson, Westland, and Marlborough.
With regard to temperature, MetService concluded that 2022 was the warmest on average among the past 30 years. Record-high temperatures were detected in Auckland, Hamilton, Tauranga, and Wellington. While Christchurch and Dunedin did not break any records, they were still above their 30-year average.
While the insurance industry has yet to release the full year natural disaster tally, preliminary results indicated that 2022 has been a hard year. At the half-year mark, total insurance payments for extreme weather events were close to $200 million, according to the Insurance Council of New Zealand (ICNZ). Five weather events in July and August have resulted in 11,086 extreme weather-related claims, with a combined value of $123.8 million.
