It may be summer but our long-anticipated sunshine and warmer temperatures will have to be put on the backburner for yet another Sunday. A slow moving frontal system stalling across the North Island, and an all-too-familiar low pressure system churning away off the South Island’s West Coast are both set to bring more cloud, rain and possible thunderstorms to many parts of the country.

A breezy North-West airflow will cover most of the North Island, as it sits wedged between low pressure to the West and a large high to the East. A frontal band of squally showers will slowly drift eastwards across the Island, predominantly affecting Northern, Central and Eastern regions. Some showers may be heavy with a risk of isolated thunderstorms and hail developing during the afternoon. Many regions in the South-West however, including the likes of Taranaki, Whanganui, Manawatu and Wellington will remain largely unscathed, with just the odd early shower and cloud breaking up as the day goes on. It’ll feel quite sticky across much of the North Island amidst the humid airflow, and temperatures ranging through the upper-teens for most.

In the South Island, Northerlies and periods of heavy rain will be swirling into the West Coast from early morning. Isolated shower cells, possibly thundery with hail, are expected to pop up and spread Eastwards across inland regions, stretching to the Canterbury Coast for a time during the afternoon. North to North-West breezes for most regions across the Island, except for light South-Easterlies coming into Southland, Coastal Otago and South Canterbury, enabling mostly dry, yet cool and cloudy weather to prevail along much of the East Coast in the lower South and just the chance of the odd shower. Expect temperatures ranging from just 12 degrees in many south and inland spots, to a pleasant 20 degree high in the mostly sheltered and sunny Marlborough region.

By Jono Hartland