A cold pool of air high up in the atmosphere lies over the eastern North Island today and with the warmth of the sun on the land this afternoon is causing the air to become unstable.

In Auckland at present you can see this unstable air resulting in some nice white cauliflower type clouds about the city however things are remaining dry for now, there is the chance of a few isolated showers there this afternoon.

The main focus is about eastern parts of the Central North Island, inland Bay of Plenty and the ranges in Hawkes Bay for thunderstorms today and lightning has now been detected in the area within the last 10 to 20 minutes.

There is likely to be isolated heavy downpours with these storms and some hail.

Hamilton at present is recording the highest temperatures around the country on 16.6 degrees. Most places are having a sunny day with a little cloud here and there, isolated showers are developing about hills and ranges in the North Island mainly south of Auckland. Northeasterly breezes along the coast in Kaikoura and Christchurch are a little fresh averaging around 15 to 20 km/h.

Homepage image / weatherzone 1pm Satellite image – weatherzone.com.au

By weather analyst Aaron Wilkinson, WeatherWatch.co.nz