More wind on the menu
MetService News Release
Thursday, 20
Nov 2014
More wind on the menu
It has been a windy spring so far and it looks like there's more of the same on the menu for the next few days. MetService has issued a Severe Weather Watch for northwest gales in eastern parts of the South Island and lower North Island today and Friday. As well as the windy weather, rain is set to push into the west of the country before tracking northwards to make it a soggy start to the weekend. The good news is that skies are set to clear for Sunday.
With rain from the west pushing up against the Southern Alps, it will be the ranges of Westland and Fiordland that bear the brunt of the rainfall on Thursdaynight and into Friday. However, even towards the coast the forecast is for periods of heavy rain. While the Alps act as a block to the worst of the rain, strengthening northwesterlies to the east of them could make for a blustery start to Friday for inland Canterbury, before heading northwards towards Wellington, Wairarapa and Hawke's Bay.
Turning to the weekend, rain continues to track northwards across the North Island during Saturday, followed by a mix of sunshine and showers returning to the south. Northwesterly gales are set to return to parts of the lower North Island for Saturday. During Sunday, the rain clears to the north of New Zealand as a brief ridge of high pressure and more settled weather moves back across the country - bringing a welcome improvement for the end of the weekend.
Runners gearing up for the Queenstown marathon this weekend will be looking at the forecasts ahead of the race on Saturday. The current forecast is for a fair covering of cloud across the southern lakes, thick enough to bring a few periods of rain during the morning but becoming brighter in the afternoon. Good luck to everyone taking part, whether your distance is 3km or the whole 42km.
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, at MetService New Zealand on Facebook, @metservice on Twitter and at blog.metservice.com.