Windier weather is the main feature of today with a cold front arriving in the south-west corner of the South Island this morning and clearing the upper North Island around Wednesday afternoon.

Let’s get into the forecast for Tuesday to begin with…

RAIN:
Most of the North Island is dry today, perhaps an isolated western shower or two. But rain is heavy in the southern half of the South Island’s West Coast with rain heading northwards and some snow on the southern mountains after the cold front.

WIND:
Winds are stronger today in many regions with west to north-west winds especially strong in central and eastern areas – roughly from North Canterbury through to the lower North Island. Gale and even severe gales are possible for a time.

TEMPERATURES:
Most of NZ is milder than average today with maximum temperatures into the 20s for the top and east of the North Island and the eastern South Island before that cold front arrives. (Our hourly forecasts will help you work out when the air is at its warmest today).

WEEK AHEAD
That cold front heads up NZ today, tonight and across Wednesday with a colder south-westerly flow. The south to south-west flow behind it means showers on Wednesday are mostly focused in Southland, the West Coast and the North Island (as that cold front moves across the North Island on Wednesday, clearing in the afternoon).

On Thursday high pressure centred over the Australian side of the Tasman Sea tries to inch closer to NZ and does bring more settled weather to much of the South Island but showers or some wet weather may linger over the southern half of the North Island in particular.

Westerlies return to the South Island and lower North Island on Friday and rain sets back in to south Westland for a time – elsewhere is drier but some showers may linger in the eastern North Island thanks to a local easterly.

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USA: MONSTROUS MILTON – Even more powerful than Helene and only 1 day old
The USA is in for another catastrophic hurricane as Hurricane Milton dramatically explodes into life, going from just a Tropical Storm to a major Category 5 hurricane in just 24 hours, breaking records.

The hurricane is heading towards western Florida.

As of 1pm Tuesday winds near the centre of Milton were sustained at 290km/h with gusts well over 300km/h. Central air pressure was down to a staggering 897 hPa, and the storm was still strengthening.

Milton truly is major and properties along large parts of the western coastline of Florida – which is low lying and floods easily – are being forecast to be entirely wiped off the map. Tampa is one of the main centres in the middle of Milton’s forecast path. Tampa is home to around 400,000 people (slightly larger than Christchurch). Mass evacuations are happening there right now with heavy congestion on major highways leaving the risk zones which affects millions of people.

The hurricane is expected to hit Florida in 48 hours time, although this could still change.

🚨🇺🇸🌀Latest on #HurricaneMilton:

– Air pressure now just 897 hPa (mb)
– Winds SUSTAINED at 290 kmh (180 mph)
– Forecast storm surge a monstrous 3 to 4.5 metres (double the height from Helene)
– Record warm water over Gulf of Mexico
– #MILTON will hit western #Florida
– Mass… pic.twitter.com/nBZLUFPaif

— WeatherWatch.co.nz (@WeatherWatchNZ) October 8, 2024

🚨We will be tracking Hurricane #MILTON this week (brushing Mexico now, but directly heading towards #Florida later this week). The storm has exploded into life and is already Category5️⃣

Our partners @CNN have a live Storm Tracker Page you can follow here https://t.co/6Ds6mQZlb4 pic.twitter.com/CGxdHmAEMX

— WeatherWatch.co.nz (@WeatherWatchNZ) October 7, 2024

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