Last month was the country's warmest November on record, NIWA says.
It said in its climate summary for spring that with a temperature anomaly of 1.8C above average, November 2022 propelled this spring into the top 10 warmest springs.
NIWA remarked November saw a "plethora of warm daytime maximum and overnight minimum records and near-records".
It also said spring was wet and warm in the north and near normal in the south.
Wet weather was also significantly higher throughout the season, with "above normal" (120-149% of normal) or "well above normal" (greater than 149% of normal) rainfall across most of the North Island.
Rainfall was "near normal" (80-119% of normal) across lower parts of the North Island and most of the South Island.
NIWA attributes these temperature and rainfall shifts to increased pressure east of the country, and lower than normal pressure over eastern Australia and the Coral Sea.
This resulted in more northeasterly winds, bringing warm and moist air from tropical and sub-tropical areas to Aotearoa.
Notable cold snaps also happened in early September and October, when 25-30cm of snow was recorded 300m above sea level in Southland, and near sea level in Wellington.
Many spring records and near-records were set for both coldest daytime maximum temperature and coldest overnight minimum temperature.
Spring 2022 overall saw some of its most extreme highs and lows, from a hottest temperature of 30.2C in Hanmer Forest in November, to a lowest temperature of -9.6C at Mount Cook Airport in September.
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