With so much high pressure around New Zealand this week it’s surprising we have so many downpours but that’s the way the air pressure systems have aligned. The downpour risks are highest inland where there may also be thunder.

But what about where the majority of people live? The three largest cities don’t show a lot of wet weather this week.

These graphs show by the temperature trend each day and night, but also the current rain forecast for Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch.

So while inland areas of both islands have downpour and thunder risks the three main centres – at least at this stage – look to miss most of this. We’ll keep you posted should this change (which can sometimes happen with these hit and miss downpours drifting later in the day if a more dominant breeze kicks in).

If the numbers are a little small to read, the temperatures on the right hand side mostly fit between 14 and 20 degrees in Auckland, 11 and 21 in Wellington and 9 degrees and 21 in Christchurch (this is the general trend, some pockets may be +/- a few degrees from this). Rainfall is in green at the bottom of each graph and is barely measurable it’s such a low amount.

– WeatherWatch.co.nz, graphics by IBM