Fast tempo weather for the middle of NZ Music Month

MetService News Release
Sunday 15 May 2016

Fast tempo weather for the middle of NZ Music Month

A rapid succession of troughs from the south, marching over New Zealand in perfect 2/4 time give the weather this coming week a distinctly rhythmic feel.

Trough days on Monday, Wednesday and Friday will bring rain to the west – heavy and thundery at times, particularly for the South Island – diminishing across to some areas in the east. Gale force winds will also whistle across the Canterbury Plains, Wairarapa and through Cook Strait, and there should be some fresh snow on the tops of the southern peaks. Between the troughs, Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday will see calmer weather, although there will still be a few showers around.

The reason for this repeating weather riff is a weakening ridge of high pressure north of New Zealand, allowing a chorus of active fronts from the Southern Ocean to sweep up the country. Successive fronts spread farther north, with Friday’s frontal finale looking set to sustain into Saturday.

“Last week we saw bands of heavy rain on the West Coast, with falls over 30mm per hour”, lilted meteorologist Tom Adams, “and wind gusts of 146kph were recorded in Kelburn, Wellington, on Thursday night. This coming week will see repeat occurrences of similar hazardous weather, and each day is likely to be different to the next. This makes it really important to check the forecast and warnings before planning gigs or other activities”.

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