* Rainfall: Extremely dry in the northeast of the North Island, and eastern South Island. Record low rainfall in Northland, parts of Auckland, Coromandel, Bay of Plenty, Taupo, Canterbury, Otago and inland Southland.

* Soil moisture: Unusually low in the northeast of the North Island, especially Northland. Very low in many parts of Otago and Canterbury.

* Sunshine: Extremely sunny in the south of the South Island, Gisborne, Hawkes Bay, the Central Plateau. Very cloudy for Northland, Auckland, and south Canterbury.

* Temperature: Near average temperatures across much of the country.

Well below normal rainfall (below 50 percent of normal) was experienced in the northeast of the North Island, and the north and east of the South Island. At several locations in Northland and Central Otago, rainfall totals were in the single figures (less than 10 mm), and broke long-standing low-rainfall records for November. Record or near-record low rainfall was also observed in parts of Auckland and the Coromandel, and in the Bay of Plenty, Taupo, and Central Plateau regions. In the South Island, extremely low rainfall was experienced in Canterbury, Otago, the Lakes District, and inland Southland. In contrast, it was a wet month (more than 120% of normal November rainfall) in the Manawatu-Wanganui district and for coastal Southland.

Overall, November temperatures were near average (between -0.5C and 0.5C of average) across most of New Zealand. The New Zealand national average temperature for November was 13.6C (0.1C below the long-term November average.

November sunshine totals were well above normal (more than 125 percent of normal) over the south of the South Island. It was also a sunny month in Gisborne, Hawkes Bay, Taupo, the central Plateau, and the eastern Bay of Plenty, with sunshine totals between 110 and 125 percent of normal in those regions. In contrast, it was a rather cloudy month in Northland, Auckland, and south Canterbury.

It was an extremely windy month. During November 2009, stronger than normal southwest winds affected New Zealand, caused by much deeper lows than usual south of the South Island.

Further Highlights:

* The highest temperature was 32.1C recorded at Whakatane on the 24th (a November record at this site). The lowest temperature of -3.2 C was recorded at Waiouru on the 12th (not a record).

* The highest 1-day rainfall was 122.3 mm, recorded at Milford Sound, on the 14th (not a record).

* The highest wind gust was 184 km/hr, recorded at Stewart Island on the 4th (a November record at this site).

* Of the six main centres, Tauranga was the warmest, driest, and sunniest, Wellington the wettest, and Christchurch the coolest.