Otago had a dry, warm and reasonably sunny 2010.
The major weather events for the year included a heatwave in March, flooding in Queenstown in April and North Otago and the Taieri in May, snow in Queenstown in June and a winter storm in South Otago in September.
Dunedin consultant hydrologist Dave Stewart said that, apart from the major rainstorm in May, there was nothing too remarkable about Otago's weather for 2010, with the exception that it had experienced two low-flow periods - the first four months and the last three months of the year.
The week of rain in May which caused floods along the east coast led into a winter that was ''reasonably benign'' with no snow experienced in Dunedin, and lighter frosts than normal.
''It was a relatively warm winter.''
In September, the region experienced a few wet and wild days and the month was notable for the snow storm which hit Southland.
Since October, the region had not received much rain, except for this week, and as a result river levels in December had been similar to those normally experienced in February, he said.
National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (Niwa) climate scientist Georgina Griffiths said nationally the year had been rather ''benign'' climate wise.
''Mean annual temperatures were slightly up in most regions of the country and greatly up in others.''
The year had a ''warm flavour'' overall and sunshine was up in most regions as well, she said.
In Otago, some areas were very dry with Clyde the driest routine climate station monitored with 319mm (90% of normal) up until mid-December, closely followed by Alexandra on 371mm (115% of normal).
''Central Otago is still our driest site, but it often is, and they haven't broken any of their own records [so far].''
Several sites in Central Otago were in line to break mean annual temperature records with Cromwell recording a mean of 12degC, its highest since 1949, and Alexandra 11.3deg C, its fourth-highest.
However, Coastal Otago's mean annual temperatures were in the near average range with Musselburgh's 11.2degC just 0.1degC above normal and Dunedin airport 10degC only -0.3degC below.
There was a heatwave on March 8-9, with most Central Otago towns registering record autumn temperatures.
Cromwell reached 32.7degC, its highest since 1949, Wanaka 30degC, its second highest, and Queenstown 29.8degC, its second highest.
The region experienced an ''extreme'' cold snap on July 11, with Dunedin airport recording its fourth-lowest temperature of -6.7degC and Queenstown airport -7.2degC, its second lowest.
It was a sunny year for the region, especially for Balclutha, which recorded its second-highest since records began in 1947.
Dunedin had about normal sunshine.
Rainfall figures from around Dunedin showed the city, except for heavy rainfall in May which caused flooding and a wet August, most months struggled to beat its historic averages.
