A stationary front for a statutory holiday

Thursday, 22 Oct 2015

A stationary front for a statutory holiday

Pick your camping spots carefully and take care while driving, as this long weekend starts off wet for many areas. A band of heavy rain is set to stall over the central and upper North Island from Friday through to Sunday morning, with an improving trend on Labour Day. South of the front the lower North Island will be cloudy with a few showers, while the South Island stays mostly dry in the east and showery in the west, until another front arrives late on Monday.

MetService has issued a Severe Weather Watch for heavy rain about the central North Island hill country from the Tararua Range to Tongariro and Taranaki. "People heading into the hills should take care, as these prolonged and heavy falls of rain will lead to rises in river levels," said meteorologist Tom Adams, "with the start of the Great Walk season trampers and campers need to be careful when fording rivers and picking campspots."

Later on Saturday a low forms on the front and crosses the upper North Island. This will spread the rainfall north over Northland and Auckland,and the Bay of Plenty and East Cape have a chance of some heavy falls on Sunday. As the low pulls away on Sunday afternoon the weather improves for the upper North Island, but the lingering cloud could still bring some patchy drizzle. Over the South Island a series of weak fronts sweep over the west and south, but fizzle quickly to patchy cloud. Neil Diamond may be singing 'Stargazer' in Dunedin on Saturday night, but will need to be lucky to time a gap in the clouds.

On Monday another front starts moving up the South Island, bringing a drop in temperatures, and rain to the North Island on Tuesday. The east coast of the South Island will get a few showers Sunday morning, but stays mostly fine until Monday night.

The following week sees classic spring conditions, with fast-moving fronts moving up the country bringing a mix of fine spells and showers.

ends

© Scoop Media