Wednesday is similar weather-wise to how many places were on Tuesday with high pressure centred east of the North Island and a big storm south of Tasmania. This set-up encourages the westerly flow into most parts of the country.

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Let’s get into the forecast for Wednesday to start with…

RAIN:
Rain and showers affect the southern half of the West Coast and possibly some parts of Southland (although won’t be much in Southland). Dry, or mainly dry, for all other regions.

WIND:
Westerly quarter winds continue today with strongest winds around Cook Strait and the upper South Island mountains – but below gale for the most part.

TEMPERATURES:
No big change in temperatures today from yesterday – most of NZ is leaning warmer than average for this time of year.

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DAYS AHEAD
On Thursday NZ is stuck between a large high to our east and a big storm to our south – this creates windier nor-westers yet again over NZ, more West Coast rain or showers and some areas of rain and showers around parts of the upper North Island too, which will track south to south-eastwards across the day and night. Windiest weather is from Wellington southwards.

Friday looks similar to Thursday but those in eastern places like Hawke’s Bay and Canterbury should notice the heat returning with highs back to around 30 degrees. Showers spill over further into Southland and Otago, maybe South Canterbury.

This weekend sees no major changes to the weather. On Saturday a powerful storm well south of NZ will encourage more rain to the southern half of the West Coast with heavy falls, and more nor-westers in many regions – especially Southland and Otago (sorry!). Sub-tropical airflows will also be coming into NZ keeping temperatures above normal for this time of year.

On Sunday there are a few showers in both islands but large dry areas and lighter winds.

Next week kicks off with high pressure moving into Southland (for a change!) on Monday with a humid nor-easter for the top of the North Island. Heavy afternoon inland downpours are possible in both main islands and patchy showers and drizzle for eastern facing coastal parts of the upper North Island.

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