This Summer the cricket has been dogged by rain clouds, even hail, and today may be no different. 

WeatherWatch.co.nz’s head weather analyst Philip Duncan says thick cloud and very heavy rain offshore means a question mark remains over how dry this afternoon will be.

“A cold front moving up the country is merging with cloud and moisture from a sub-tropical low north of New Zealand. This has created very heavy rain just off the west coast of Auckland. It’s likely to remain offshore however the latest data at the Weather Watch Centre indicates showers should increase this afternoon”.

Mr Duncan says there’s about a 40% chance of showers this afternoon in Auckland, compared with 10% this morning.

It’s also very humid in the city today. “The air temperature at 9:30am was 21 degrees with over 90% humidity. That means it feels closer to 30 degrees using the humidex (which measures temperature combined with humidity)”.