The Weather Watch Centre is predicting a sunny start to the week for much of the country as a large high dominates the nation bringing settled weather.

It’s been a particularly stormy two days but early this morning the cold front cleared New Zealand – along with the high humidity levels which have made sleeping in northern parts of the country difficult.  Last night seemed almost cold compared to the previous 2 nights.

The Weather Watch Centre is monitoring the likely development of a sub-tropical low in the Coral Sea – an area known for developing nasty low depressions.  While it’s not expected to be severe for New Zealand at this stage it could impact our weather across the coming weekend, with rain and humid weather returning to the top half of the North Island.
 

The golden weather is yet to come

NZHerald.co.nz

As kiwis head back to the office to the start of the working year tomorrow, it looks like the golden weather is yet to come.

MetService says the first working week of the year would feature clear skies and warm temperatures all over New Zealand, marking the end of a Christmas holiday period marred by unsettled weather.

But for the past couple of days, storm warnings and howling gales have provided unseasonable greetings to the new year.

The entire country has been affected by unsettled weather, with sunny spells interrupted by frequent wind and rain.

Torrential rain fell over much of the North Island yesterday, as a wet front moved across the island, with surface flooding reported near Mt Messenger in Taranaki.

The wet conditions brought welcome relief to dry farmlands in Hawke’s Bay and Wairarapa, but were less appreciated by holiday-makers trying to enjoy their last day at the beach before travelling home.

The South Island was not spared the wild weather: the one-day cricket international in Christchurch was affected by hail and rain.

NIWA climatologist James Renwick said the outlook for the remainder of the summer is promising, with above-average temperatures expected in the North Island and most of the South Island.

“February is traditionally the most settled month for weather in New Zealand so we can all hope we’re going to get some fine periods of weather,” he said.