A milder start to the week can be expected in most places as high pressure sits over much of the country today, bringing settled and warmer conditions. This high slides north of the country as a low pressure system and its fronts affect New Zealand's weather in the second half of the week.
"A warm front sweeps over the South Island tonight, lifting tomorrow's morning minimums up above the frosty temperatures that have been common in the last week" said meteorologist Rob Kerr. There will be some dramatic changes in daytime highs too, as warm nor'westers touch down across eastern areas, pushing the daily maximums up around the 20C mark on Tuesday from Hawkes Bay to Wairarapa in the North Island and Marlborough to Otago in the South Island. "Blenheim and Napier will be the envy of many, as they are set to hit those 20C highs for most of this week" Kerr added.
"It's not all 'hints of summer' though," cautioned Kerr. Northwesterlies bring rain to western and southern parts of the South Island today, which looks to persist for much of the week. This rain spreads north towards the end of the week as a front sweeps over the country. "As the frontal band reaches the upper North Island later on Friday and early Saturday, there may be a risk of heavy rain in a few places," Kerr went on to say. "Meanwhile, a change to cold southwesterlies over the South Island on Friday is likely to once again drop snow levels across eastern and southern parts of the South Island." said Kerr.
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, at MetService New Zealand on Facebook, @metservice on Twitter and at blog.metservice.com.