Calm before the storm
It was an exciting start to the day yesterday when upper North Islanders endured a morning drenching and lightning struck a flight leaving Auckland.
But weather-wise things are likely to be much calmer today, said MetService meteorologist Sonja Farmer, before the rain sets in early this week.
Ominous grey clouds covered Auckland yesterday morning and an Air New Zealand flight to Queenstown was hit by lightning on its way south. But there are signs that spring is on the way with early lambs grazing at Cornwall Park.
Today there’ll be cloud in the west — including morning showers for Northland, Auckland, Taranaki — and sunshine in Bay of Plenty, Wellington, Nelson and the eastern part of both islands.
Temperatures will hover close to the mid-teens for most, with 15C in Auckland, Whanga¯rei, Tauranga, Napier, Nelson and Christchurch, 14C in Hamilton and 13C in Wellington, Queenstown and Dunedin, but will dip to 11C in Invercargill.
Tomorrow will be fine in most places, except for a few showers in the deep south and west, and rain in
Northland from late evening.
Bay of Plenty, Wellington, Nelson and eastern parts of the country can expect plenty of sunshine — with Gisborne and Hastings enjoying a relatively balmy high of 17C and the temperature dropping only a degree cooler in Tauranga, Nelson and Christchurch. Auckland and Hamilton can expect 15C.
But the reprieve will be brief — thanks to a low heading our way from Australia, Farmer said.
“It’s coming from the southeast and from Tuesday will bring heavy rain and strong winds.”
It’s looking likely rainfall will reach warning levels in Northland on Tuesday, while there was a moderate likelihood of the same in Auckland and the Coromandel Peninsula, as well as in Gisborne and Hawke’s Bay on Tuesday and Wednesday, according to MetService.
“Additionally, there is moderate confidence of severe gale northeasterlies in exposed parts of Northland, Auckland, including the Great Barrier Island, and Coromandel Peninsula on Tuesday.”