Peek-a-boo . . . fog cloaks the harbour
The fog which bedevilled late-week travellers out of Auckland is unlikely to return this morning, but a blanket of the tiny travel-disrupting water droplets could affect some areas south of the Bombay Hills.
There was a fog risk for inland areas such as Hamilton and Central Otago, MetService’s Lisa Murray said: “But the risk isn’t as high for Auckland.”
Thick fog yesterday led to dozens of cancellations and delays of regional flights at Auckland Airport, matching the disruption caused by fog a day earlier, which also jammed up Auckland motorways when crashes occurred.
However, weekend weather was looking pretty good for most of the country. A weak southwesterly flow was over New Zealand, and high cloud was among its weather features, Murray said.
“That means morning cloud for many places and patchy fog for some. It does clear up, but because it’s winter it takes a little while. Lots of places will see fine weather, blue skies.”
Coastal areas usually affected by southwesterly flows, such as Auckland, were at risk of isolated showers. There was also a chance of a thunderstorm in the Far North this morning, and brief rain was expected in the afternoon and evening from Bay of Plenty down the eastern coast of the North Island.
Tomorrow, a front would begin in Fiordland overnight and arriving in the North Island by evening. It would bring a dip in temperatures and a dusting of snow to mountain peaks on both islands. “There’ll be a bit of snow . . . but not enough that the skiers will be excited.”
Christchurch has 12C temperatures today and tomorrow and Dunedin 12C today and 10C tomorrow. The capital can expect 12C today and 14C tomorrow, while Auckland will be 17C both days.
The weekend will be much calmer weather-wise than last week, when tornadoes, lightning strikes and high waves buffeted parts of the country, damaging homes and cutting power.