Cyclone Hola missed New Zealand for the most part with damaging winds hugging the northern coastline but not pressing across land enough to cause serious problems. Rain was heavy in some regions, especially Northland, Coromandel Peninsula, and East Cape.

 

Now that Hola is over the Chatham Islands and rapidly moving away from New Zealand, high pressure returns from the Tasman Sea area. Winds from the west to south west may still be a bit windy over the next day or two.

 

By the weekend, a short-lived tropical cyclone east of Brisbane will be drifting towards New Zealand from our north west but reliable data continues to suggest it won’t be a storm and may spend more time north of New Zealand than actually directly affecting us. Still, it remains one to keep an eye on as we head into this weekend.