12 June 2014

A welcome relaxation in the weather

It has been a very active weather week, with rain across much of New Zealand and a burst of severe gales with gusts in excess of 130km/h around Auckland in the early hours of Wednesday. The latest Severe Weather Warning scales down the heavy rain from eastern Waikato and Coromandel to Gisborne and Hawkes Bay by early Friday. The good news is that the weather is expected to settle down heading into the weekend.

The area of low pressure that has been the driving force behind the unsettled weather is finally set to clear the country for the weekend, making way for some quieter weather. A brief ridge of high pressure continues to build across New Zealand in the coming days with the forecast for the weekend looking drier for many, albeit cloudy at times.

"Over the last few days the South Island has seen some drier and brighter weather creeping northwards, and for the weekend that's moving onto the North Island" said MetService meteorologist John Law. "However there will still be some areas of cloud, especially around western facing coasts, and lingering patches of low cloud and fog in some inland basins and valleys of the South Island" he said.

The next front is likely to bring some rain back to Southland and Fiordland later on Saturday but is forecast to weaken before heading further north.

With the feed of warm air that has extended across the country over the last week, temperatures have been relatively mild. However, with the return of some clearer and colder nights, frosts are on the cards for some this weekend.

Keep up to date with the latest forecasts and any watches/warnings atmetservice.com or on mobile devices at m.metservice.com. You can also follow our updates on MetService TV, @metservice on Twitter and at blog.metservice.com.

ENDS

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