48 hours ago it was hovering around zero with snow in Dunedin – this hour it’s between 9 and 14 degrees under stunning sunny skies. The air flow is warmer today – on Sunday it was hitting the lower South Island direct from near Antarctica and Dunedin was between 0 and 3 degrees in the middle of the afternoon.  The day before that the South Island had an airflow from the sub-tropics! Today the airflow is coming from south and south eastern Australia. Talk about busy.

The somewhat Australian airflow is also warming up the rest of the country compared to the direct Southern Ocean airflow across Sunday and Monday. While it’s not tropical today – and many may still find it quite cold – the partial Aussie airflow is helping lift temperatures to above average for some in the north and east by a degree or two, and will continue to do so overnight and across Wednesday.

Parts of Northland are as warm as 17 or 18 degrees this hour and 13 to 17 degrees around Hawkes Bay.

Even some parts of the lower North Island are up to 17 and 18 degrees at the moment – not bad for the end of July.

Tomorrow may even see 20 degrees in places like the eastern North Island as the west to north west winds pick up from Australia and warm up as it crosses over our eastern hills and ranges.

The airflow doesn’t begin in Australia, it’s still coming from out of the Southern Ocean, but it’s crossing south eastern Australia before the Tasman to New Zealand – and this more northern process warms it up more, especially as it passes over Australia’s land. 

So while not tropical today – it’s certainly no longer polar either, it’s warmed up just a little thanks to Australia.

Track the airflow:

– WeatherWatch.co.nz