[katieHaylor (OP)]

Peter says:

I have noticed over the last couple of years that New Zealand has had more and more rain. I believe this year is the wettest I have ever seen. I was wondering how much of this is due to random weather patterns, how much has to do with general changes in weather cycles over the years and how much is due to global warming. I suspect the latter has something to do with it.

What do you think?

[evan_au]

A survey of the last 140 years suggest that:
- Sea temperatures around NZ have warmed by around 1C
- But the effects on rainfall have been mixed because of different geography, and in different seasons
- El Nino/La Nina events have a big impact on New Zealand
- The most concrete comment they make is that with increased sea surface temperatures, extreme rainfall events are likely to become more common.

See: https://www.niwa.co.nz/our-science/climate/information-and-resources/clivar/pastclimate#y140

[AlphAcorn]

My observation of the weather patterns going down from PNG is that the rain seems to follow the islands down to NZ, it used to move more westerly across the Coral Sea,  so your observation seems to be correct