Waitangi Weekend: Your guide to weather and events in Aotearoa
Bust out your sunhats, togs and boogie boards because Waitangi Weekend is set to be a cracker throughout the country.
MetService meteorologist Andy Best said the outlook was for a dry weekend in all the main centres with light winds and warm temperatures.
The south of the country was again expected to record the highest temperatures with the mercury set to hit 30 today and 31C tomorrow in Alexandra.
Wanaka can expect a scorching 29C today and Queenstown would reach 29. If you’re in Gore tomorrow prepare for an unusually warm day. Best said the area was in for a high of 24C, about 5C higher than normal.
On Monday the balmy weather extends further up the South Island. Kaiko¯ura can expect 25C, Ashburton and Christchurch will get a high of 28, Gore climbs to 25 and Invercargill is predicted to be 8C hotter than usual at 26C.
“That’s a consequence of a low coming in over the Tasman Sea and very strong northwesterly winds generating those warm temperatures, bringing warm air down from the subtropics,” Best said.
As for the North Island, the weekend promises to be more bearable while remaining warm.
Auckland is set to reach 25C all weekend and Wellington sits on 21-22C , Napier at 22-23C and Taumarunui as high as 27C or 28C.
Isolated showers were expected today in the southeast, Gisborne, Hawke’s Bay, Buller, the Marlborough coast and Banks Peninsula.
On Sunday the only showers were predicted on Northland’s east coast and inland Southland while on Monday rain was expected to develop around Fiordland and spread to Westland and parts of Southland.