Today
Has it rained enough in Nelson?
Rain soaked in yesterday, and the ground is still holding it.
Nelson has had 58.9mm of rain in the last 30 days. A normal October here brings 138.7mm, so that is about 42% of what the ground usually gets — and the driest October in 30 years was 48.6mm.
Rain reaching the roots · 14 days
18 OctToday
Reached the roots
Rain that did not
2 days of 14
Thirty years
Rain in Nelson through a normal year
Across a normal year Nelson gets about 1421.9mm of rain, most of it in October (138.7mm) and least in February (89.9mm).
A normal October in Nelson has rain on 16 days. Only 12 of them bring enough to reach a root.
That makes Nelson the wettest place this site covers in New Zealand in October — 138.7mm against Christchurch's 58.8mm at the other end.
JFebMAMJJASOctND
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.