Extreme weather events

Extreme weather events are becoming more frequent and severe.

A growing body of local evidence and research shows the intensity and/or frequency of extreme weather events we experience in Aotearoa is increasing with climate change.

The frequency of tropical cyclones is slightly decreasing over the South Pacific basin, but the cyclones that do form are more severe.

In early 2023, there were multiple severe weather events that overlapped in time and/or space. One example is the atmospheric river that delivered an unprecedented amount of rainfall to Auckland in January 2023, closely followed by the effect of Cyclone Gabrielle across much of the North Island in February 2023.

The following resources provide information about extreme weather and how we know these events are becoming more frequent.

Articles:

• Extreme weather

• Cyclones, typhoons and hurricanes

• Extreme rainfall – Stats NZ environmental indicator

• Extreme wind – Stats NZ environmental indicator

Media

• Bridge damage from Cyclone Gabrielle – image

• Effects of drought – image

• How is the climate changing? – video

Activities

• Utilising Our climate, our biodiversity, our future

• Science and partnership with a Sāmoan village

Diagram: Ministry for the Environment, Stats NZ, and data providers, and licensed by the Ministry for the Environment and Stats NZ for re-use under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence.