If you think today is exceptionally hot you are not wrong. As the heatwave continues in some New Zealand regions for the third or fourth week Canterbury is today being scorched by mid to late 30 degree temperatures.

While coastal areas are hovering just shy of 30 degrees inland weather stations are reporting temperatures as extreme as 38 degrees, with many in the mid 30s.

Tax funded Government forecasters MetService and NIWA only provide public readings from mainly airport areas, which are generally cooler than urban areas and often coastal. Combined they provide only about 100 stations which barely cover all the many microclimates – and New Zealand’s news media all contract to Government forecasters.

WeatherWatch.co.nz has over 1000 weather stations across the country and while the odd one does record a *false reading the general theme across Canterbury does not lie – today is exceptionally hot and may well be record challenging/breaking with so many places in the mid 30s.  (*Next year IBM’s super computer “Watson” – the world’s most powerful computer – will help remove any false readings for WeatherWatch.co.nz – something we’re very proud to announce).

The heat continues all weekend and into Monday – but – next week get ready for a dramatic cool down. Daytime highs may be over 20 degrees lower than today with highs of just 16 to 18 degrees expected. For some, that may be the best forecast they’ve had in weeks!

– WeatherWatch.co.nz Breaking News