Warmest November on record by more than 1.2C

This past November was the warmest on record, with temperatures well above average – more than 1.2 degrees Celsius higher than normal. Warm, humid northeasterly winds from the subtropics combined with well above average sea surface temperatures surrounding the country. The pattern was associated with a developing La Niñ a climate system, and is responsible for predictions of a warmer than average summer ahead. Overall, the nationwide average temperature in November was 15.4C (1.7C above the 1981 – 2010 average), making it our warmest November since Niwa’s seven station temperature series began in 1909. It surpassed November 2019 as the warmest on record, and three of the four warmest Novembers have now occurred since 2013. It was the second-warmest spring on record, with 26 locations experiencing the highest or secondhighest temperatures for spring on record.