Warm, Muggy Nights Ahead In The North, Becoming Hot In The South

MetService is expecting a significant warming over much of the country in the coming days ahead. Low pressure to the west and high pressure to the east of the country provides a setup to pull warm, humid air southwards across Aotearoa from the Tropics – a pattern that is common during La Niña.

MetService meteorologist Andy Best comments, “This pressure pattern will find North Islanders experiencing high humidities and warm nights from tonight through until early Friday morning. Daytime temperatures on Wednesday and Thursday from Gisborne to Palmerston North are set to build to the mid-twenties. Over the South Island, places such as Blenheim, Christchurch and Alexandra should feel the heat rise to around 27C on Wednesday and Thursday.”

The warmer temperatures expected later this week are in direct contrast to the cool airmass over the South Island today, where the maximum temperature in Ashburton and Timaru only makes it to 13C.

Rain-wise, the North Island sees scattered rain or showers for most areas through to Thursday, although regions from Gisborne to Wairarapa should stay dry, and Wellington also fines up on Thursday. Rain affects the west of the South Island through to Thursday with Heavy Rain Watches likely to be escalated to warnings closer to the event. Conversely, the rest of the island stays mainly fine and warm. However, expect rain to develop over Otago and Southland late on Thursday.

Towards the end of the week a low pressure system is forecast to bring periods of heavy rain and strong winds to some northern areas. This setup is consistent with La Niña weather patterns, and as such may be more common than usual over the coming months, but there is still significant uncertainty as to which areas will be affected most, so keep up to date with developments on the MetService website.

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