Gale force winds predicted for tomorrow

OTAGO and Southland residents are being urged to batten down the hatches again, with possible gale force winds predicted across the regions tomorrow.

A MetService spokesman said a ridge of high pressure over New Zealand would move off to the east tomorrow as a front, preceded by strong northwesterlies, approaches from the southwest.

The front moves north over the country on Saturday and Sunday, bringing rain to the western areas.

There is ‘‘moderate confidence’’ of rainfall amounts meeting warn ing criteria in Fiordland, southern Westland and at the headwaters of Otago lakes and rivers tomorrow, and then the confidence increases to ‘‘high’’ on Saturday.

In addition, there is the possibility of severe gale northwesterlies affecting exposed parts of Fiordland, Southland and Otago tomorrow.

Niwa meteorologist Ben Noll said the first six months of this year had been unseasonably warm.

From January to June, record or nearrecord highs meant monthly temperatures were reached 163 times.

‘‘Conversely, there were just three record or nearrecord low mean monthly temperatures.

‘‘In other words, for every record or nearrecord cold temperature, there have been about 54 warm ones,’’ he said.

The warm temperatures placed January to June 2018 as the fifth warmest start to any year on record, sitting behind 1998, 1937, 1999 and 2016, based on Niwa’s Seven Station Series that began in 1909.

Every New Zealand main centre, with the exception of Dunedin, had had more wet days than normal, Mr Noll said.