A chilly few days in store for many - 22 March 2018
MetService News Release
22 March 2018
A cold front is stalled over central New Zealand today, wedged between high pressure to the north and to the southwest.
Cooler temperatures and rain persist for central regions into Friday morning, before affecting the rest of the country
late Friday into Saturday.
“Heavy rain is associated with the front over central New Zealand today and a strong, cool southerly continues to feed
moisture into the east coast of the South Island, continuing the rain there until evening,” explained MetService
Meteorologist Ciaran Doolin. “There is a Severe Weather Warning for heavy rain for northwest Nelson and northern Buller,
and a Watch for Kapiti, Wellington and Marlborough north of Cape Campbell.”
“Over the northern North Island cloudy periods and isolated showers are the order of the day for many. Most showers
should avoid central Auckland which is good news for cricket fans heading to the Black Caps vs England at Eden Park
today” continued Doolin.
Fine weather is expected to emerge during Sunday for most of the country, apart from some remaining showers in the
northeast and west. The fine weather for most should continue into early next week.
“The front currently affecting central New Zealand brought cold air over the South Island yesterday, plunging many
places into single digits overnight and lowering snow to 1000m. Highs today will be in the early teens for most, which
sits in stark contrast to earlier in the week where some areas reached 30 degrees. The northern North Island on the
other hand remains under the same air mass as the last few days, with highs in the 20s continuing through the next few
days. Temperatures will gradually recover over the South Island through the weekend but there are a few chilly days and
nights in store,” said Doolin.
Official Severe Weather Watches and Warnings are reviewed and re-issued by MetService at least every twelve hours, and
more often if necessary. To get the most up to date information on severe weather around the country, or any other
forecasts, see 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 and @MetServiceWARN on Twitter and at blog.metservice.com