This episode featured as part of the Weather segment in partnership with HawkEye Pro from Ravensdown.

A forecaster says Gisborne and Bay of Plenty are showing as New Zealand’s driest regions for the next three months.

Blue Skies Weather forecaster Tony Trewinnard says both are tracking 20mm to 25mm short of normal rainfall each month.

“This may be the type of El Niño that pushes the drought away from Canterbury, where everyone’s expecting it’s going to be, and further northwards into the North Island,” he says.

He says on one measure this El Niño is the strongest recorded since 1940.

“The wind has to shift first before the weather that we feel on the ground responds.”

Trewinnard says westerlies will strengthen through November and December, bringing more rain to the West Coast, Southland and Otago.

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CountryWide CONNECT with Andy Thompson & Sarah Perriam-Lampp is our daily rural show livestreamed from 11am-1pm. Visit country-wide.co.nz on how to watch/listen or download the CountryWide CONNECT mobile app, available on Apple iOS and Android.