With a burst of gale force winds, possibly hurricane force at sea for a time, wave heights are going to be big in the west of both islands this week.

This makes for dangerous marine and beach conditions along the western side of the country, in particular the western side of the North Island which is more exposed to this set up.

Wave heights may exceed 9 metres, which is very large for the eastern Tasman Sea/western NZ coastline. There will be rogue waves that may go higher too – so a warning in particular to Aucklanders who fish on the western rocks: This isn’t a safe week to do so. It’s not a safe week for boaties anywhere in the eastern Tasman Sea area or Cook Strait.

– WeatherWatch.co.nz