A wet and windy Wednesday

MetService News Release
Monday, 07 Jan 2013 12:00 a.m.

A wet and windy Wednesday

A mostly settled start to the week is expected to give way to another bout of heavy rain and northwest gales by Wednesday.

"As an area of low pressure moves away to the east, a brief west to southwest flow spreads across the country, bringing some stronger winds and gales to Central parts of the country and exposed parts of Northland and Auckland" commented Ramon Oosterkamp, Manager Public Weather Services.

During Wednesday, a very active front moves onto the South Island accompanied by heavy rain in the west and about the Alps, as well as gale or severe gale northwesters in the east.

"The western and Alpine areas of the South Island may see another period of heavy rain, which may pose problems to those areas affected by the wet weather of last week" added Oosterkamp. Today, a watch has been issued for this event and will be upgraded to a warning when exact rainfall amounts become clear.

In the east, from North Otago to Wairarapa, northwest winds will strengthen during Wednesday, possibly rising to severe gale in many exposed places. "Temperatures will rise into the high twenties, and may exceed thirty for some to go with these blustery conditions", said Oosterkamp.

"If you live on the West Coast of the South Island, you can expect another period of wet weather on Wednesday, with some spilling across the alps into the headwaters of the rivers and lakes of Otago and Canterbury. Further east it will be a blustery and hot day" Oosterkamp went on to say.

More settled conditions are likely for the end of the week, as a new high builds over much of New Zealand.

Keep up to date with the latest forecasts and any watches/warnings at metservice.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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