Several fronts affected Aotearoa New Zealand over Anzac weekend, causing temperatures to dip and bringing showery conditions to many places. MetService is predicting a settled and mild week ahead, as a high pressure system is now approaching and then traverses the country this week.

Weather conditions over Anzac weekend were a bit of a mixed bag for New Zealand, with several fronts moving over, but in the last couple of days things have gradually been settling down.

MetService meteorologist Luis Fernandes states, “A ridge of high pressure is strengthening out in the Tasman Sea and at the same time slowly moving toward us. This is resulting in increasingly settled weather for the country and we expect this trend to continue for the rest of the school holidays.”

Although there are no big weather changes in the forecast for this week, that doesn’t mean it will be completely dry everywhere. A handful of weak fronts bring showers from Southland today (Tuesday), up the east coasts of both the South and North Island tomorrow, and eventually some showers are expected to reach Auckland and Northland on Thursday and Friday. Buller and Westland are expected to also get showers this week too, but they are unlikely to be persistent.

Fog will be a common feature in the mornings over the next few days, explains Fernandes, “When a big high pressure system like this one moves over, they not only bring calmer weather but also trap some moisture underneath them, then as temperatures drop at night, this allows for the formation of fog. This is a very typical scenario for us to see overnight and morning fog for many inland areas, especially in the valleys. This set up can also trap pollution, contributing to smog for Auckland.”

In summary, aside from a few coastal showers and foggy mornings for some inland places, the rest of this week is predicted to be mostly pleasant over Aotearoa. Temperatures remain within a range that would normally be expected for this time of the year, with chilly mornings and comfortable afternoons on the cards.

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