So why did we not notice it?
‘‘Probably because you were all sleeping,’’ MetService meteorologist Lewis Ferris said.
The city’s weather station recorded 25.8degC between 2am and 3am on Sunday.
Mr Ferris confirmed it was the hottest temperature recorded so far this summer in Dunedin.
The next nearest temperature was on the afternoon of January 11, when it reached 25degC.
He said it was quite rare for it to be that warm in the middle of the night.
‘‘What you have had to get that sort of temperature at that time, is a very warm air mass and also westerly winds.
‘‘The westerly winds that come across the Southern Alps have this drying and heating effect — the Foehn effect.
‘‘There were places all up the east coast of the South Island that saw some very warm overnight temperatures.’’
He said Oamaru also had very warm overnight temperatures, reaching 26.2degC between 3am and 4am, but it was not the highest temperature of Oamaru’s summer so far.
For those Dunedin residents feeling as if they had missed out on the pinnacle of summer, Mr Ferris said he was confident there were hotter temperatures still to come for the city.
‘‘It would be very rare to find many places that have their warmest temperature for the summer in the middle of the night.’’
