A sub-tropical low has boosted temperatures and brought rain this week, now two more large lows may be on the way. WeatherWatch.co.nz says this change in the weather pattern (which started in August) appears to be beginning to balance the books after a much drier first half to 2019.

The next big low arrives around Sunday and into Monday and Tuesday next week and looks fairly North Island focused. At this stage Tuesday next week looks to be the wettest day. Just like the low this week, nothing is moving fast so it will linger for a few days increasing rainfall totals in the north.

There may also be another big low next weekend – but it’s too far out to lock in just yet with all the spring chaos, but modelling is showing it forming in a similar way to the low this coming weekend. If it does form it really shows we’re in a new pattern that is warmer and wetter, at least for the North Island. 

Some of this rain will clip the South Island too, the upper half of the island does look wetter than average in the days ahead – but the southern half swings drier, thanks to colder air flows and more high pressure. There may be a few snow flurries this Friday and Sunday/Monday in the South Island in particular, but as you can see no totals will be big in the lower half of the island whether it’s rain or snow. North Canterbury may be a bit bleak over Sunday and Monday with wintry conditions for newborn stock as cold and damp air combines to increase the misery index.

Don’t forget about our NEW WEATHER DATA WEBSITE! 

Go to www.RuralWeather.co.nz for the biggest ever weather data drop in NZ history! (we have more weather data freely available than both tax funded Govt agencies NIWA and MetService combined!).

Here you can see GRAPHS, TRENDS, and DATA (including hourly up to 10 days out) for your farm, home, work or where you play. Just go to www.RuralWeather.co.nz and be sure to bookmark it!

7 DAY RAINFALL COMPARED TO NORMAL/HISTORIC (Data with thanks to the US Govt)

• Red = Drier than average
• Blue = Wetter than usual
• White = Normal rainfall

– WeatherWatch.co.nz and our NEW site RuralWeather.co.nz