It’s all about the High

“Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness”, quoting John Keats poem - To Autumn, the past few days had a real autumnal feel to them. High pressure took a hold over much of the country and brought crisp, cool mornings over much of Aotearoa. Frosts were reported in inland Otago, Southland and the Kapiti Coast as well as over the North Island volcanic plateau. Sunday morning saw Paraparaumu recording +1C, Taupo airport -0.1C and Rangitaiki with -1.1C.

MetService meteorologist Andy Best commented “The settled conditions are all due to a slow moving, broad ridge of high pressure. Apart from a weak cold front moving up the east coast of New Zealand today, another ridge of high pressure moves over the South Island on Monday, and by Wednesday the ridge becomes well established and covers the entire country.” He went on to say, “This high pressure system means light winds, mostly clear skies and settled weather for much of Aotearoa, although the east coast of the North Island can expect mostly cloudy and showery conditions in onshore south to southeast winds”.

Looking out to Thursday, temperatures are expected to be about average for this time of year, with daytime maxima in the mid to high teens, and overnight temperatures in single digits ranging from about 9 degrees in the north of the country to 4 degrees in the south. The coolest overnight temperatures out to Thursday are mostly likely to be around 5C over the lower North Island from Dannevirke to Levin and around 6 degrees in Thames and Hamilton.

And so, with light winds, cool conditions ahead and hopefully wood in your woodsheds, here are a few lines from Robert Louis Stevenson’s poem - Autumn Fires …

“Pleasant summer over,
And all the summer flowers,
The red fire blazes,
The grey smoke towers”

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