Christmas Eve is tomorrow and although some are launching into last minute shopping, it seems that the ridge of high pressure wants to come to the Christmas party

It hasn’t been often that we’ve had an anticyclone that’s wanted to park itself over our shores but this one has done exactly that and it’s not quite run out of puff yet.
It may have not delivered wall to wall sunshine with some heavy showers and thunder popping up in some places but this time last week the rain had been tumbling down heavily over central parts of the country, so it makes a change to have drier conditions overall compared to last week.

The mercury is again likely to be the highest in inland areas today as sea breezes stop the day from heating up to much in coastal areas.

NZ water temps

Sea conditions around the country are also relatively smooth and gentle as moderate sea breezes have kept the bigger swells at bay.

Water temperatures continue to slowly creep up with Auckland and Tauranga beaches recording sea temperatures of 18 degrees, Wellington 15, Christchurch 14 and Dunedin still a cool 12. Most coastal centres should see the water temps go up another 2-3 degrees over the next month or so.

Lake and river temperatures are also on a gradual climb however they are still decidedly fresh and especially the snowfed lakes, rivers and streams in the south.