The 2018/19 year in the King Country and Waikato regions incorporated another mixture of dry and humid weather conditions. The winter months were reasonably warm for much of the region. Rain levels were average with sporadic thunder, lightning and heavy showers during October.
The summer months of December 2018 through to March 2019 temperature highs were reordered in Te Kuiti. Areas in the Waikato region were declared drought zones in March 2019. Records show this was similar to the drought conditions experienced in 2008. Due to the extreme fire risk all forests were closed for recreational use in late January. Prohibiting access allowed GFM to manage that risk. Over all GFM have experienced zero issues and have reduced fire risk to medium following rainfall early April.