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Wednesday Newsfeed: Thunderstorms, hail, squally showers move into north, cold in south – but high pressure returning

Apologies – we have no weather video today due to travel. Wednesday is a colder and wetter day for northern NZ as a surge of gales and rain/showers moves through. The windy weather is from a straight line “squash zone” between the deepening low pressure zone east of the North Island and the incoming high pressure system to the west.

It’s this area of high pressure that has controlled NZ’s weather for the past couple of weeks, being placed near Tasmania – but by Saturday it lies near the Far North and this more northern placement ushers in milder winds for NZ late week and into Saturday.

Weather on Wednesday will come in to NZ from the Southern Ocean and Tasman Sea regions.

The squash zone of windy to gale force sou’westers will move into Auckland on Wednesday afternoon and evening and will affect other northern parts of NZ, such as Coromandel Peninsula and coastal Waikato, Northland and Taranaki. Some isolated power outages are possible. These winds remain on Thursday but not to the same intensity. Some showers elsewhere may be squally and bring locally strong winds and heavy rain, possibly hail and isolated thunderstorms too.

Thursday is also windy and cooler but some in the lower South Island may notice the temperatures starting to lift just a little ahead of the windy nor’wester late week (which will have Australian and sub-tropical connections). Northerners should also notice maximum temperatures lifting by a degree or two on Thursday as opposed to Wednesday.

Snow will fall across the lower South Island overnight Tuesday and on Wednesday as the cold air comes in. This may affect highways.

High pressure is approaching NZ – but the journey isn’t 100% locked in. View our weather today for more details.

A cold day over NZ with bursts of wet weather, snow on the Southern Alps and gales spreading up the western coastline of the North Island.
A slightly milder airflow returns to western NZ on Thursday as a low deepens further out to NZ’s east.
*Maps powered by Weatherzone, Graphics by WeatherWatch.
  • WeatherWatch.co.nz

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