Feels like Summer for a few days

Feels like Summer for a few days

It was a big wind event for many areas yesterday, with severe northwest gales affecting Southland, Otago, Canterbury, Marlborough, Wellington and the Wairarapa. MetService warnings indicated some big numbers, including 150-160km/h or more for Southland, Otago and Canterbury, and the weather promptly delivered. Picking out the populated spots, Invercargill gusted a mighty 70 knots/130kmh in the hour before 4pm on Sunday, while Gore, Twizel, Kaikoura and Wellington all saw gusts of at least 60 knots/110kmh, and Roxburgh, Fairlie and Ashburton gusted to at least 54 kts/100kmh. Of the more exposed areas, LeBons Bay and Mt Cook topped out over 75 knots/140kmh, Swampy Summit near Dunedin hit 82 knots/152kmh and Mid Dome near Lumsden maxed at an incredible 106 knots/196kmh! That was no outlier either, having gusted around 100 knots/185kmh in the previous 2 hours.

"The week ahead will continue to be windy at times for southern and central New Zealand. A Severe Weather Watch is in place for potentially severe northwest gales tonight and tomorrow around inland Southland, Otago and Canterbury, and also parts of Wairarapa and Hawkes Bay, possibly returningon Wednesday," said Meteorologist Rob Kerr. "However, it will not be as severe as the winds we had on Sunday and will be a mostly dry week for most people, with plenty of sun around for the last week of the school holidays. Temperatures are expected to be up around 20 degrees in the north,while eastern parts of both Islands will reach the mid-20s duringTuesday and Wednesday as warm northwesterlies blow through. A cooler southwest change sweeps over the country from late Wednesday, bringing a spell of showers to most," said Kerr. "It's only the West Coast that misses out on the mostly dry conditions, but even there it is a changeable weather week,rather than a wet weather week," he added.

There are large waves already affecting parts of New Zealand and these are expected to be a feature for much of this week. So before hitting the beaches make sure you stay up to date with the latest coastal or recreational forecasts at www.metservice.com

ends

© Scoop Media