Monday lunchtime sees most of the nation in the clear in terms of showers with just a few drifting up along the West Coast of the South Island and one or two over parts of the Southland province.

A SW change is expected to move up the eastern parts of both islands over the next few hours but it’s struggling to get going in terms of showers.

Temperatures will be the most noticeable drop in these areas with the risk of a shower or two but a cloudband will probably be the most likely outcome.

It’s certainly a different story now with Gisborne and Napier already in the high twenties.

Other parts of the country are seeing a combination of sunny skies and cloudy intervals with temperatures slowly rising.

Winds are mainly light to gentle breezes over much of the North Island but New Plymouth and Wanganui are seeing westerlies near the 50-60kph mark.

The southerly this morning along eastern and northern areas of the Mainland has certainly picked up.
Kaikoura has seen gusts near 90kph, Nelson above 60 and Dunedin has seen sou’ westers over 70kph.
Wellington is in for a decent blow as the front swings by.

Winds should fade as the afternoon and evening arrives but cool conditions with perhaps the exception of Nelson.

Fire Risk Update

According to the Greater Wellington Regional Council, about 20 per cent (165,500ha) of land in the Wellington Region is at high-to-extreme risk from wildfires.

The greater Auckland and Christchurch areas also sees a risk but to what degree yet has yet to be firmed up.

In Auckland the vulnerable areas appear to be the high-risk forested areas to the west (Waitakere Ranges), south (Hunua Ranges), northwest (Woodhill Forest), north (Mahurangi Forest) and east (Gulf Islands).

In Christchurch the Selwyn and Waimak districts – south, west and north of the city remain extreme in terms of fire risk and fire bans.

At this stage there is still little relief in sight in terms of rain in the immediate future for all three main centres.

WeatherWatch.co.nz