Hot (very) and dry (snort) here
 

A typical Waikato summer has unsettled weather over Christmas and a few days
after new years, temperatures in the low 20s and some decent rain before
drying out early January for mid 20s temps and dry weather with the odd
reasonable dump of rain to keep the garden/veges/grass from dying out.

This year, fa rain since mid december, 2-3 days of shitty light drizzle.
Temperatures in the late 20s and into the early 30s. The lawn is crispy and
dry & the veges are only surviving because I attend to them.

Relief is at hand however, tropical cyclone Funa is blowing into town. A
good dump of rain even if it will be unbearably humid. It has been
downgraded from a cyclone to a intense despression. Still, some decent rain
anyway.

Well, today Funa arrived. From about midday to 6 pm we enjoyed patches of
whispy drizzle, almost enough to cover the bottom of the bucket I set out to
measure the rainfall. Almost enough, but not quite enough. Maybe 1/2 a mm of
drizzle which was instantly evaporated by the strong winds. The ******* has
now blown itself south and, glory be, we have missed the worst of it. Other
parts of the country are getting big dumps of rain but, glory be, we have
escaped. Its a miracle. Snort, gnash, spit. Still muggy as buggery, but sod
all to show for it. Stuff the plants, they can die.

rob