A front pushes northwards over the country today with northwesterly winds ahead of the front and changing southwest in behind. A west to northwesterly airflow over New Zealand on Thursday as an anticyclone sits west of the North Island in the Tasman Sea. A front pushes northwards on Friday however it will weaken considerably as it goes northwards.

Wednesday

Blue – Heavy rain for North Westland eases by midday.

Purple – Strong to gale northwesterlies about the interior of the upper South Island easing from late afternoon, strong to gale northwesterlies through Cook Strait ease in the evening.

Strong to gale westerlies about coastal Southland and the Catlins during the day. Elsewhere about Southland and Otago expect blustery westerlies for much of today.

Yellow – Temperatures reaching into the mid 20’s for a time for the eastern South Island and eastern North Island.

Thursday

Blue – Rain heavy at times for the West Coast of the South Island, especially late afternoon / evening. Southland and Otago may see areas of heavy rain later in the evening / overnight.

Yellow – Afternoon high’s in the mid 20’s for the areas marked below.

While northwesterlies do get breezy in the afternoon for some there is no warning here at this stage.

Friday

Purple – Gusty northwesterlies about the inner upper South Island ease during the morning, strong northwesterlies through Cook Strait ease in the afternoon.

Yellow – Temperatures reaching into the mid 20’s for the east and north of the North Island in the afternoon, perhaps even late 20’s for the eastern North Island.

– Please note, the idea behind this update is to focus on the main weather highlights, which is why not all regions are mentioned. 

For specific 10 day information for your city, town, rural community or island please see the 1500 forecasts on our homepage!

– Aaron Wilkinson, WeatherWatch.co.nz