Updated 9:37am — Rain is back in the forecast – both this weekend and again early to mid next week – but it may not be enough for some regions which have seriously started to dry out.

WeatherWatch.co.nz reports that eastern and northern regions of both islands are drying out fast with fronts in recent weeks delivering very little rain.  Wednesday morning was a good example, with a weak area of rain passing over Auckland, Northland and Waikato and delivering less than a couple millimetres for most.

However Mother Nature doesn’t operate on the same calendar as you and I do – so even though most of us celebrate the start of summer this weekend, the weather pattern stays “hooked on spring” for a little bit longer yet, according to head weather analyst Philip Duncan.

“Being hooked on the spring weather pattern at the start of summer isn’t uncommon and it comes with positives and negatives.  The two main negatives being windier, drier, weather for the east – not good for farming – and the other being cloudier and cooler for many of our more populated regions, like Auckland and Waikato”.

However Mr Duncan says there are positives – which we will receive this weekend.  “The same negatives can be turned around into positives.  The hot, dry, westerlies will bump daytime highs into the mid to late 20s for some eastern areas this weekend while at the same time the gloomier, cloudier, weather in the west will produce heavy rain for the West Coast which may spillover into other regions of both islands”.

WeatherWatch.co.nz says while there will be areas of rain, wind and heat this weekend there will also be plenty of cloud and dry weather – and those winds from the west will crank up.

Not all regions will receive rain in the next few days – but even the 10 day forecasts are now showing rain back in the picture in a weeks time for northern areas, like Bay of Plenty, which currently has a 60% chance of rain one week from today. 

“We are still expecting a mixture of weather this summer” says Philip Duncan.  “It’s important to remember that true summer weather is January, February and often March – and while those months can be very hot and calm we can also get some tropical and Tasman rain makers – we just need the highs to clear from our west and north for this to happen, so keep checking the long-range maps“.

In a nutshell

• Heavy rain for the West Coast this weekend
• A healthy amount of rain will push into western and northern parts of the North Island on Sunday – with some spillover into the east.
• More Tasman Sea rain moves in around Tuesday and Wednesday, again for northern and western NZ with the chance of a few showers in the east
• Week 2 of December looks dry again

– WeatherWatch.co.nz