MetService forecasts chilly weekend before wet weather returns Monday
A chilly weekend is in store as the school holidays wrap up and several major sporting events get underway, before the weather takes a turn on Monday.
MetService said this weekend was set to be a “good end” to the holidays, with generally dry and settled conditions forecast for most places.
MetService meteorologist Paris Marshall told the Herald a southwest flow over the country was set to continue through the weekend.
She said some rain was expected in the far south today, but it would likely clear by tomorrow.
Similarly, the North Island would also be in for cloudy periods and the odd shower that should ease to make way for sunny spells.
“Sunday is probably the day to do your washing, dry stuff out, and take the kids out for their last hurrah before going back to school,” Marshall said.
“That southwest flow brings a bit of cloud mainly to the west, but that cloud starts to break up, and it ends up being quite a nice day on that Sunday for most places,” Marshall said.
Light winds and frosty temperatures are also expected across the central North Island, with “severe” frosts forecast for parts of the South Island.
Notably, Dunedin is set to experience a warmer-than-average afternoon with a high of 15C.
“Dunedin is actually one of the special cases just along that coast ... getting slightly higher than average [temperatures] which is quite nice.
“That just drops on Sunday, which is not fun to have a sudden drop in temperature after you’ve just had a quite warm and nice day,” Marshall said.
Big sporting weekend
MetService said conditions looked “great” for the All Blacks and the Wahs set to play in Auckland this evening.
The City of Sails was forecast to stay dry with a light southwesterly wind.
Auckland is expected to have typical winter temperatures, reaching a maximum of 16C before dropping to 12C after dark.
“Still wrap up warm for the rugby game, but be prepared to maybe take a couple layers off is my advice,” Marshall said.
As we head into next week, Marshall said there would be “a bit of a turn”.
The southwest flow is expected to turn more southeasterly, bringing showers across New Zealand.
These will come across from the West Coast of the South Island and then move on to the North Island.
“A lot of places in the North Island will experience some wet weather on Monday, which I guess is not a very nice day to be going back to school,” Marshall said.
She said that the rain band on Monday would move off “quite fast”, so Tuesday would likely clear up again.