Today
Has it rained enough in Christchurch?
Rain soaked in yesterday, and the ground is still holding it.
Christchurch has had 72.6mm of rain in the last 30 days. A normal October here brings 58.8mm, so the ground is roughly where it should be for the time of year.
Rain reaching the roots · 14 days
18 OctToday
Thirty years
Rain in Christchurch through a normal year
Across a normal year Christchurch gets about 630.2mm of rain, most of it in June (60.8mm) and least in March (43.8mm).
A normal October in Christchurch has rain on 15 days. Only 9 of them bring enough to reach a root.
That makes Christchurch the driest place this site covers in New Zealand in October — 58.8mm against Nelson's 138.7mm at the other end.
JFMarAMJunJASOND
Average rainfall by month, 1995–2024
What it means
What that means for what you grow
- Pots and hanging basketsWorst hit, and first to suffer. Very little soil, fully exposed, and nothing to fall back on — in this weather they can empty in a day.
- Salad and leafy vegShallow-rooted and quick to bolt once they run dry. First priority of anything in the ground.
- Beds and bordersA long soak that reaches the roots is worth more than a daily sprinkle, which only wets the surface and is gone by lunchtime.
- Established shrubs and treesFine as they are. They draw from far deeper than a dry spell reaches.