It was a very windy end to the weekend, as a vigorous cold front travelled north across the country bringing heavy rain to the West Coast of the South Island and severe gales to the east. As this front moves away, it will leave some cooler and more showery conditions across New Zealand for the week.
“Temperatures are set to slide right back down the scale as cold air returns to parts of New Zealand,” commented MetService meteorologist John Law. “Maximum temperatures yesterday reached into the high twenties in many parts of the eastern South Island, and in the North island the warmest spot was Napier with a high of 29C. However, today saw a much cooler start to the week in the South, and temperatures look cooler still for tomorrow,” he went on to say.
“The strong northwesterly winds of Sunday did bring with them some high temperatures,” said Law, “but for Monday we are back into that cooler southerly wind bringing cooler temperatures and a scattering of showers across the South and West of the country, while the east of the North Island looks set to see some sunshine later on Monday. The colder air means that some of these showers are likely to fall as snow over the highest ground of Fiordland, Southland and Otago.”
Later in the week, showers are set to become more widespread across the North Island, while an area of high pressure returns some more settled conditions to the South Island on Tuesday.
“After the weekend’s windy finish, followed by hefty showers on Monday and Tuesday, we should see fine weather returning to the South Island for the second half of the week,” Law commented. “However, keep a close eye on our overnight temperatures; with clear skies and light winds we should see some cold nights and perhaps some frosts returning to sheltered spots inland.”
For the North Island the weather is a little slower to improve, but with the ridge of high pressure building through the week the trend is for better but cooler weather to return in time for Friday.
This week marks Conservation Week, with plenty of activities taking place across the country. You can find out what is happening in your area by heading to the Department of Conservation’s website http://www.doc.govt.nz/getting-involved/events-and-awards/conservation-week/ (don’t forget to check the weather for the day on metservice.com!)
Keep up to date with the latest forecasts and any watches/warnings at metservice.com or on mobile devices at m.metservice.com. You can also follow our updates on MetService TV, at MetService New Zealand on Facebook, @metservice on Twitter, and at blog.metservice.com.
For further information please contact:
John Law Meteorologist (04)4700 754
MetPR 