UPDATED TUESDAY — Anticyclones don’t always bring sunny weather and the huge high this week is no different with gloomy weather expected across western regions in particular.

While the high will stretch for several thousand kilometres from west to east it’s not very tall north to south. This particular set up means there is a westerly flow across New Zealand, even if very light, for much of this week and that encourages clouds off the Tasman Sea. These clouds are low altitude ones which means then stop when they reach the ranges and higher level ground across NZ.

If you’re flying this week you’ll notice it doesn’t take long to get up and above this gloomy weather either, with clouds mostly below 10,000 feet it’ll only take a couple of minutes, if that, to be up in the sunshine.

So, western areas will likely have a blanket of cloud with some sunny spells while eastern areas, on the other side of the main ranges and main divide, will often be mostly sunny. This cloud makes for cooler days as it limits sunshine but milder nights as it helps hold on to the daytime warmth.

TUESDAY AM SATELLITE MAP:
You can clearly see the set up for this week still happening today, Tuesday. The Coromandel and Kaimai Ranges, Hawke’s Bay & Gisborne Ranges all effectively blocking the lower level clouds coming in from the west and helping keep conditions sunny in many eastern regions.

CLOUD FORECAST MAPS:  Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday…

– WeatherWatch.co.nz