Most of those dry areas have recorded very little regular rain this year, with less than 15mm falling in the past two weeks compared to 150mm in other parts of the country over the same period.
WeatherWatch forecaster Phil Duncan says despite some promising wet weather headed towards NZ in the next couple of weeks, parched areas may only see up to 25mm.
In contrast, the South Island’s West Coast could be deluged with 300mm over the same period and western areas of the North Island could receive up to 200mm.
Duncan says eastern regions from Otago in the south, Central Otago, Canterbury, parts of Marlborough, Hawke’s Bay, Gisborne and Northland are drier than normal.
He says this dry weather is expected to continue for those areas as dry and warm westerly weather patterns dominate for the foreseeable future.
