Well high there — sunshine banishes icy chill

Maximum temperatures sprang into the late teens in much of the country yesterday, and more good weather is heading our way.

Dargaville was New Zealand’s warmest spot, reaching nearly 19C, thanks to the full August sun.

Other hotspots around the country were Ngamatea, in the Rangitikei district and Hanmer Springs, both reaching 18C, while Hokianga hit 17C yesterday, according to Niwa.

Auckland reached a high of 15C, with light southeasterlies and brilliant sun.

Further south, Hamilton and Tauranga also reached 15C, while Wellington and Christchurch had highs of 13C, according to MetService.

More sun should shine on Whangarei and Auckland today with a 15C high forecast to last until rain sets in on Monday, and overnight lows of 6 to 8C.

In Hamilton the sun should stick around till Sunday, with highs of between 15 and 16C dropping to between 1 and 3C overnight.

Tauranga will bask in similarly sunny weather with highs of 15C lingering till Sunday, cooling to 6C overnight.

In Wellington, the temperature is a few degrees cooler, with highs of 13C, fine spells and a smattering of cloud through to Sunday.

And in Christchurch the sun will stick around till Monday, but will dip to a chilly -1C overnight, MetService predicted.

Weatherwatch analyst Philip Duncan said this week’s golden weather was brought on by a high pressure system tracking directly over the North Island. “Sometimes highs can bring in a lot of cloud — called anti-cyclonic gloom — to places like Auckland,” he said.

“But the shape of this high means there is a light southeast flow over the North Island, which means mild days and mainly clear skies for many places.”

Mr Duncan said although spring was still more than a week away, powerful highs were common in August and September.

The recent wintry blast was probably the coldest weather for August — though that didn’t rule out more cold to come.

Mr Duncan said that with sunlight hours becoming longer as spring neared, the length of cold blasts tended to diminish.

“Make the most of this stunning settled weather — as . . . next week looks more unsettled,” he said.