As alluded in yesterday evenings story this coming week is looking mainly unsettled, rain looks likely for a majority of the time and heavy falls are expected in areas exposed to the east or northeast. All this is due to a low pressure system which sits west of New Zealand today through till Wednesday then gradually it is forecast to move away to the northeast on Thursday and Friday with high pressure sneaking in behind.

For today’s weather, as usual check out this mornings forecast here.

On Tuesday there are actually two low centres, one west of New Zealand in the
Tasman Sea as mentioned above then another one hanging around the upper North
Island. These combine to bring in a tropical air mass and plenty of wet weather.
Expect rain for all North Island regions with brisk easterly winds, rain will be
especially heavy about the Coromandel and Bay Of Plenty then overnight for most
areas south of Auckland.

The South Island has a brisk easterly airflow. Rain for Canterbury, Marlborough and Nelson with heavy falls possible from late afternoon. The West Coast and coastal Otago has patchy falls then elsewhere
about the lower south expect periods of cloud and breezy easterlies.

The upper North Island clears up a little on Wednesday with morning rain mostly
clearing then sunny spells developing with light winds. Expect rain to continue
along the east coast with heavy falls at times, rain for western parts of the
North Island Wanganui southwards with brisk southeasterlies. Morning rain clears
about Taranaki with the chance of a PM sunny spell or two.

Periods of rain continue for Nelson, Marlborough (heavy at times) and Canterbury with brisk
east to southeast winds. The West Coast is fairly dry with some high cloud and
gusty southeasterlies, the odd patchy fall may spread from the west north of
Westport during the day. Southland and Otago see periods of cloud with east to
northeast winds.

Thursday starts to see some improvement as the low west of New Zealand begins to move northeast and a high comes in from behind in the Tasman Sea. Most North Island regions can expect showers with easterly quarter
winds, heavy rain for the east coast eases in the morning. For the South Island
morning rain eases in Nelson, Marlborough and Canterbury to drizzle. The West
Coast is dry with some high cloud, Southland and Otago are mostly sunny
with northeasterly winds.

Finally on Friday, an anticyclone covers most of the South Island bringing sunny weather for most. There could be an early drizzle patch about Canterbury and Marlborough however then sunny spells
increase. A southeasterly airflow lies over the North Island bringing sunny
skies in the west, cloudy on the east coast from Gisborne through to the
Wairarapa with drizzle patches.

Homepage image / Zelda Wynn

By Weather Analyst Aaron Wilkinson – WeatherWatch.co.nz