Spring is all about ups and downs. Increasing hints of summer as winter slowly fades way. Next week some regions will drop 10 degrees by day as we get a classic spring cold front moving through.

Before the cold front a high will encourage warmer than average sub-tropical winds over NZ which will warm up further as they cross over our mountains and ranges as north to north west winds. This helps boost temperatures even further in southern and eastern regions.

But a spring front later on Tuesday will leave a colder airflow behind for Wednesday and Thursday, dropping temperatures by as much as 10 degrees by day.

It’s short lived – high pressure returns to New Zealand by next Friday and for the final weekend of September (and the start of Daylight Saving!).

Here are some examples of the temperature drop – these are the current daytime highs:

INVERCARGILL: 16 Sunday, 8 Wednesday
DUNEDIN: 18 Sunday, 9 Wednesday
GORE:  17C Sunday, 8C Wednesday
QUEENSTOWN: 15 Saturday, 7 Wednesday
CHRISTCHURCH: 19 Sunday, 10 Tuesday
WELLINGTON: 15 Monday, 11 Thursday
NAPIER: 19 Monday, 12 Thursday 

ABOVE: Temperature map for 3pm Sunday
BELOW: Temperature map 3pm next Tuesday

– WeatherWatch.co.nz