New year is just da bomb
Campers and holidaymakers across New Zealand can mostly relax with warm, fine weather for the rest of the week, but some areas will need to keep umbrellas and a deck of cards close to hand, with pockets of showers on the way.
Yesterday’s weather wasn’t too dissimilar to the opening day of 2018 — which included a warm, cloudy day for Auckland, early 20Cs in Wellington and Christchurch, while Dunedin
basked in a stunner with a high of 23.9C on January 1 last year.
For the rest of this week, areas of the North Island will get drizzle or showers, but the temperatures should hold steady and any bad weather is likely to depart quickly.
It’s a similar story for the South Island this week, with any showers soon clearing, and holidaymakers unhindered to enjoy beaches, lakes, hills, and al fresco dining.
The mercury is expected to soar in Christchurch today, with the Garden City likely sweating at 31C.
MetService meteorologist Tui McInnes said the weather would be “benign” in the first week of the year.
“The weather for the coming week is not particularly exciting,” McInnes said. “But that’s probably exactly what many are wanting.
“The mixed weather means, depending on your location, you can expect a few good days as well as a few wetter days.”
McInnes said western regions such as the West Coast could expect wetter, cloudier weather on average, and those further east could look forward to some drier spells.
In McInnes’ words “while it could be better, it could certainly be worse”.