With more than 1600 hours of sunshine as of 31 July, Whakatāne is well in the lead in 2013's sunshine race.
Data gathered from NIWA's Climate Database shows that Whakatāne has had 1630 hours of sunshine so far this year. A very sunny July lengthened our lead over New Plymouth by an additional 50 hours; New Plymouth has now had 98 fewer sunshine hours than Whakatāne this year. Other sunny contenders across New Zealand are even farther behind.
The sunshine hour totals through 31 July 2013 are:
- Whakatāne: 1630
- New Plymouth: 1532
- Blenheim: 1454
- Nelson: 1426
- Lake Tekapo: 1416
With these numbers, so far Whakatāne is well on its way to retaining its title as the Sunshine Capital of New Zealand.