Marine heatwave causes sea temperatures to rise across New Zealand

January 17, 2018
Surfer footprints on sandy beach with green waves breaking at Wainui Beach, Gisborne, New Zealand

A marine heatwave has led to New Zealand's coastal waters jumping 2-4 degrees warmer than a year ago.

The South Island has seen the most drastic change with some waters recording a jump of six degrees, and temperatures sitting as high as 20C in December, according to the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA).

The December average came down to 16-18C, but even that is still a degree or two above normal, says NIWA meteorologist Ben Noll.

"When you're talking about specific harbours, more in broad strokes, you would expect (for example) Christchurch (Lyttelton Harbour) to sit around 14-16C on average," Mr Noll said.

"It's nothing to be too alarmed about, it's expected as we now live on a warmer planet which comes hand in hand with heat waves and that a piece of the climate change puzzle will always be a factor in all extreme weather events," Mr Noll said.

Meanwhile, the warmer seas are having an impact on storm systems which New Zealand caught a glimpse of in early January with wild weather across parts of the country.

"Warm seas provide more heat and energy for weather systems tracking over the top (of us), it's something that could influence our weather systems," Mr Noll said.

Not only does the warmer temperature keep our air on land warmer but it contributes to the strengths of the storm, he said.

"That's something we're going to have to watch."

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