High slips away, wet weather moves in

This weekend a significant amount of rain has fallen on the West Coast, whilst many other parts of the country have remained dry and warm. “Over 350mm of rain has been recorded at Milford Sound since midnight Friday, with further heavy rain forecast for the West Coast through to Monday,” commented MetService Meteorologist Peter Little.

A large, slow-moving area of high pressure to the east of New Zealand has been responsible for keeping the stormy weather confined to Fiordland and Westland, while settled and warm weather has prevailed across much of the remainder of the country. “Daytime temperatures have pushed into the high twenties in a number of places. Dunedin Airport recorded 31.5C on Saturday, with Timaru a close second on 31.1C, and Christchurch next on 29.9C,” added Little.

Northeast winds carried cloud and a few showers onto northern New Zealand, briefly affecting revelers at the Auckland City Limits Music Festival on Saturday. Further south in New Plymouth, fine weather prevailed throughout the three days of WOMAD. There were also a number of outdoor events held in the Capital this weekend, and the harbour city sparkled under mostly sunny skies, accompanied by tame northerly winds.

Looking ahead to the new week, the high begins to lose its grip and slips away to the east. This allows a complex frontal system to move onto northern New Zealand on Tuesday, which should cross the remainder of the country on Wednesday and Thursday. “Next week’s frontal system will likely deliver a period of rain to most parts of New Zealand, which will be welcomed by many folk in dry areas. However, there is the potential for the rain to be heavy in places too, so people should stay up to date with MetService forecasts,” said Little.

ENDS

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