A Switch in Weather Regimes

25th October 2018

A Switch in Weather Regimes and Unsettled Conditions Take Hold
People in the South Island were this morning reminded of the volatility of Spring time weather as a cold and blustery southerly change spread up the island.

The change comes after a spell of mild and settled weather for the country. Many South Island locations experienced their maximum temperatures for the day early this morning ahead of the change, with things cooling down significantly this afternoon behind the front. In Ashburton the temperature fell over 4C in two hours following the frontal passage this morning at around 8am.

The front brought significant rainfall, especially in the west where Haast has seen 66.4mm since yesterday afternoon, and even some snow to the mountain passes with light snow settling this morning on the Crown Road Range. There are still road snow warnings in place down south which can be viewed here; http://bit.ly/RoadSnowWarnings.

The front is forecast to reach Wellington this evening with a strong southerly and showers expected, and it will feel very cool with an overnight minimum of just 9C, down 5C from 14C last night.

The rest of the North Island doesn’t miss out either, with an unsettled weekend in store.

‘A complex low-pressure system building in the Tasman Sea is forecast to bring periods of wet weather across the North Island this weekend’, says MetService Meteorologist James Millward.

‘Whilst it will remain relatively mild over Saturday and Sunday, strong and sometimes gusty northwesterly winds will be a feature of the weekend with most places on the North Island seeing rain on both Saturday and Sunday’, he continued.

For those taking part in the Auckland Marathon this Sunday the good news is that whilst rain is forecast, it is set to ease during the morning with winds dropping off during race time. In the Capital, some morning showers welcome the Duke and Duchess of Sussex to New Zealand on Sunday before things start to brighten up in the afternoon.

Note to Editors: A full forecast for the Royal visit will be issued later today.

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