Gisborne has recorded the driest January in 112 years - with just 4mm measured at the airport's rain gauge.
Its southern neighbour, Napier, has also had one of its driest ever summers, recording only 5.4mm of rain in the past month.
Gisborne has had its driest January in 112 years Photo: 123rf.com
National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research meteorologist Ben Noll said it had been a crispy summer for the region with more south-westerly winds than normal.
"As those south-west winds descend the ranges to the west of Gisborne and Hawke's Bay they dry out and that is a dry wind direction and also a warm wind direction - the combination has led to much below soil moisture.
The climate outlook for the next three months was not looking promising, Mr Noll said.
"When you average it all out it looks like the east of the North Island is most likely to experience below normal rainfall and near or above average temperatures over that three month period.
"It's not exactly the news that I know farmers and folks living in the eastern North Island want to hear."
For soil moisture to recover back to normal the east coast would need a couple of impressive storms to bring at least 200mmof rain, Mr Noll said.