A cold southwesterly airflow continues to blow over New Zealand today. Northwesterlies develop on Wednesday with a front moving into western regions late afternoon / evening. A northerly airflow strengthens later on Thursday then a front pushes onto the west of the South Island bringing heavy rain.

Tuesday

Blue – A light frost to start the day for inland parts of the North and South Islands.

Purple – West to southwesterly winds are strong about western coastlines during today.

Wednesday

Blue – Rain becoming heavy about some parts of the West Coast (South Island) from late afternoon then easing later in the evening. Rain becomes heavy about the western North Island in the evening then easing overnight.

Purple – Late afternoon or evening northwesterly winds are brisk to strong in the west and through Cook Strait.

Thursday

As a northerly airflow strengthens later on Thursday expect heavy rain to move into South Westland, torrential falls possible overnight. Northerly winds may rise to gale about many parts of the upper South Island overnight, also through Cook Strait.

– 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