Mainly settled weather ahead of a front on Sunday

MetService News Release
28 March 2019

A front over the north of the North Island eases and drifts southwards today with some showers expected for northern and central areas. Meanwhile, the South Island has some welcome settled weather as a ridge of high pressure builds from today into the weekend.

For the North Island, the weak front continues to sink further south tomorrow and Saturday as warm and humid northeasterlies dominate. Although the front will have weakened, there is still some heavier rain expected along the east coast of the North Island and possible heavier showers with a low risk for thunderstorms over central areas.

The South Island continues with settled weather until Saturday when a few showers are expected in the west and the Canterbury high country.

On Friday morning there are some isolated showers expected in the Auckland region during the Christchurch national remembrance service, while Wellington is forecast to be fine, and Christchurch will have some morning cloud but remain dry.

On Sunday the weather turns ahead of an approaching fast-moving front. The North Island will continue to see warm and humid air with overnight temperatures making for muggy conditions to try sleep in. “None of the main centres will drop below 14C overnight Sunday, with the Far North only dropping to 19C.” explained Meteorologist Kyle Lee.

Strong northwesterly winds will precede the front which will cause maximum temperatures in the east to be well above average. “The likes of Christchurch will reach as high as 26C on Sunday before the passage of the front in the evening.” continued Lee.

The front will also bring a burst of heavy rain along the west coast. As the ground is already saturated this won’t be welcome news, but with a much shorter period of rain and lesser amounts this front is not expected to have as big as an impact as the previous front at the start of this week.

“This incoming front is much faster moving than what we saw these past few days and is forecast to move off the South Island by Monday as it moves onto the North Island.” said Lee.

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