Polar blast gone? What’s in store for this week
While the country thaws from the polar jet stream and temperatures go back normal, New Zealand is in for wet weather this week, and another chance to see an aurora.
MetService issued a heavy rain watch for tomorrow for Tasman and west of Motueka and the eastern ranges of the Bay of Plenty.
But MetService meteorologist Dan Corrigan said the short sharp period of rain will move on quickly and by tomorrow night it will be “less persistent rain, more rain on and off”. He said temperatures are forecast to be “very bland and standard” for May.
Auckland can expect isolated showers developing into rain tomorrow before the weather clears up on Friday.
Light showers will develop into a wet Wednesday and Thursday in Wellington, before clearing up on Friday.
Christchurch can expect a cloudy Tuesday before rain develops tomorrow morning. Thursday and Friday are looking clear but heavy rain is predicted for Saturday.
Aurora could light up skies again
An aurora caused by a rare geomagnetic storm lit up skies across the country on Saturday night.
University of Otago physicist professor Craig Rodger said Kiwis could get another chance to see it this week, but it depends on the weather and where they are.
“At the moment there is a forecast from the NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center that another coronal mass ejection is likely to occur maybe tonight, maybe in the next 24 hours.
“It's one of those areas that is actually quite difficult to forecast accurately when the coronal mass ejections will arrive," he told the AM Show yesterday.
"So there is another possibility. I would be very surprised if it was a good as good as Saturday night, though.
"If you live in the lower South Island, I'd be saying there's a reasonable chance of aurora. If you live in the upper North Island, I really hope you saw it on Saturday, because it could literally be another 10 years before we get a show that good."