Cromwell in Central Otago heats up the record book

Thursday, 23 November 2017

The South Island town of Cromwell has soared to its hottest spring temperature on record, according to Niwa.

The Central Otago town, which lies 60 kilometres east of Queenstown, hit 33.3 degrees Celsius at 4pm on Thursday - the equal 10th-hottest November temperature ever recorded in all of New Zealand.  

Shortly after 3pm, Niwa tweeted that Cromwell had broken its spring record when it reached 32.4C, but as predicted it got even hotter.

It was a scorcher for most places in that region, nearby Wanaka and Alexandra reached 30C and 29.2C respectively.

READ MORE: November's about to get hotter, and there's still no rain in sight

Further up the island in Hanmer Springs, the temperature broke into the 30s, hitting 30.1C at 4pm.

In the North Island, Masterton and Palmerston North were both baked in sunshine, reaching temperatures exceeding 26C.

It's a sign of things to come - the country is set to swelter into December, as the sun beats down and the skies stay pretty much clear of any rain.

So far, the town of Lincoln, near Christchurch, has recorded 0.4 millimetres of rain this month. 

If things continue like that, it'll be the driest November – and one of the driest months overall – for the area since records began in 1881, Niwa says.