The south stole the limelight temperaturewise today with Haast roaring into the 20’s, which is more than 10 degrees above normal for this time of year, closely followed by Milford Sound on 18 .

A whole host of 18s was also recorded further north up the coast in Greymouth, Hokitika and Nelson, plus across the Strait, in Hamilton,Whakatane and Napier.

The cold and damp spell continued on the eastern side of the Southern Alps with Cantabrians not able to shrug the gloomy conditions.

Temps didn’t top 10 degrees over most of the red and black province and with the rain falling over Kaikoura, Marlborough and Wellington, the thermometer wasn’t particularly flash either.

To the main centres and as already mentioned, Hamilton was a warm 18, closely followed by Auckland with 17, Wellington 12, Christchurch just 9 and Dunedin 11 degrees.

At 4 o’clock this afternoon, Cape Reinga had a sou’ wester gusting up to 80 kph and 13 degrees, whereas Haast was still a very mild 19 with a gentle easterly breeze. The coolest at 4pm was Kaikoura and Oamaru with 8 degrees and Palmerston North had recorded the heaviest shower between 3 and 4 o’clock.

Tonight, Kaitaia and Dargaville should have a mild night with 12 degrees likely and one or two showers about.Queenstown and Wanaka with their higher elevation, should see it get to freezing tonight.

Tomorrow, it is all the Ts with Tauranga, Thames and Taumaranui searching for  the top spot with 17 degrees but once again, the West Coast of the mainland just might beat them to it!

WEATHER ANALYST RICHARD GREEN