Temperatures nosedived over the mainland yesterday with a 60-70% drop in some cases on the previous 48 hours and that cold air should march north over southern and eastern areas of the North Island today.

Double figures were barely reached on Wednesday as cloud, cold winds and rain affected southern and eastern regions of the South Island. Overnight lows weren’t very flash either and the mercury was about where it should be for this time of year, after a few nights of temperatures being up to 8-14 degrees above normal.

The final day of April is looking a little brighter along the West Coast of the South Island after a couple of days of thundery rain which lead to problems for local residents in Greymouth, moreso on Monday.

Some catchments along the main divide have recorded well over 500mm of rain over a 4 day period with the Cropp River rain guage in Westland recording in excess of 1000mm or 1 metre ( which is more than what some centres get in almost 2 years, just 120 kilometres east! ). 

May arrives tomorrow with inclement weather still likely in some eastern and northern regions but the drying out process will hopefully continue in the west.