Temperatures have taken a sharp drop in the past hour across Auckland as a band of heavy rain moved through.  In less than an hour the temperature dropped 4.5 degrees from near 16 to just 11.

The brief rain is now moving into the Waikato but another smaller band of active showers will return to Auckland early this afternoon.  “Some localised falls may be briefly heavy – there may even be an isolated rumble of thunder” says head weather analyst Philip Duncan.

He says the heavy showers may come as a surprise to many after such a sunny start to the day. “The thing about spring weather is that it’s very changeable.  When the sun comes out it can be very pleasant and warm”.

The low, which is creating the rain bands, has reached it’s maximum strength today – about 990hPa.  It will cross over the central part of New Zealand during Thursday morning.

“As the warm spring weather mixes with the cold winter weather still in the atmosphere we often see volatile weather developing.  In today’s case that will mean heavy, thundery, conditions especially on the North Island’s west coast and most exposed will be coastal areas from Taranaki to Auckland” says head weather analyst Philip Duncan.

Mr Duncan says afternoon heating may also bring some heavy showers to the North Island’s interior.  “Any motorists travelling across northern, central and western parts of the North Island should be prepared for sudden heavy downpours.  Small streams may also flood quite quickly if the showers linger”

Government forecaster MetService has issued a number of Thunderstorm Watches for the west coast and central North Island warning of a moderate to high chance of thunderstorms, hail and brief gales today.

An eerie sight… low cloud created by humid nor’westers and high air pressure over Auckland Monday night. 

The clouds were near sea level at times – estimated to be around 100m at one point.

This photo, taken by regular weather watcher Föehn Mackenzie, shows the city lights reflecting into the clouds at 8:30pm.

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