Updated 12:25pm — It probably comes as no surprise that many places in New Zealand are at 100% humidity, or near it, especially eastern areas.

Auckland is at 97%, Hamilton 100%, parts of Wellington 93% and both Dunedin and Christchurch are in the 90% range. Many in between are close to 100%.

Not everyone is that humid, some further west have 50% humidity – but those directly inline to the sub-tropical flow are certainly feeling it.

Humidity doesn’t equal heat – the easterly flow south of Wellington is cold today and tomorrow, it may feel more like winter. But unlike the muggy (humidity + heat) conditions in the north and east of the North Island those further south have a cold humidity, very similar to what we get on a foggy morning in winter.

Sleeping isn’t so easy, working the next day isn’t so fun either if you’re in the north of the country.  When the air is this saturated it’s like a wet sponge – it cannot absorb more, so sweat on your body just sticks to you. The heat can make you sleepy as well…but often during the daytime.

So when is this humidity easing? Well – it’s going to get worse for some before it improves as the remnants of ex-cyclone Debbie pass by and drag down more sub-tropical air. However the good news is by Thursday and Friday humidity levels take a big hit back to normal.

As for how long it might last – at this stage there are some hints humidity could increase again around Sunday or next week for northerners due to a big low in the Tasman Sa and another ex-cyclone well to out to our north west. For now though, let’s focus on the end of the week and weekend when humidity levels drop across most of New Zealand back to more tolerable levels.

– Image / Current humidity map, areas in pale blue are at 100% or near to it (90% range) / Earth.nullschool.net

– WeatherWatch.co.nz