Australian warm air to stoke weekend heat in New Zealand

Tuesday, 29 October 2019

Ellie Valdes and Taine Haines enjoying the sun in Hagley Park, Christchurch on Monday. Another bout of warm temperatures and sunshine is expected next weekend.

Warm air from Australia is expected to help push temperatures to well above average in eastern and inland areas of the country this coming weekend, possibly topping 30 degrees Celsius.

A large high developing in the Tasman Sea was picked to push the warm air across from Australia and bring a fine weekend to most of the country, MetService meteorologist Stephen Glassey said.

MetService was predicting Blenheim would reach 31C next Sunday, with Christchurch getting to 30C. Alexandra is forecast to reach 30C on Saturday.

It's expected to be almost as warm further north, with Masterton and Hastings forecast to reach 29C on Sunday, and Tauranga 26C.

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'The average daily maximum for most places during November is around 20 degrees, so this will be significantly warmer than normal for this time of year. However, places on the west coast like Auckland, New Plymouth, and Greymouth are expected to see temperatures closer to average,' Glassey said.

Highs forecast by MetService for this coming Sunday.

The expected warm weather comes after temperatures also soared in some areas during Labour Weekend, but for the next few days conditions will be cooler and more changeable.

A front with a strong southwest change would north over the South Island on Wednesday bringing a period of rain, with possible thunderstorms and hail in the east as the southwest change moved through, Glassey said.

'The strong southwest change is likely to move through Dunedin around 2pm on Wednesday and should reach Christchurch between 6 and 7pm. It's forecast to bring a short sharp burst of rain and a significant dip in temperature as it moves through.'

The front would weaken as it moved over the North Island early Thursday but would still bring some strong winds and showers to a few places.

Most centres should be dry for Halloween on Thursday evening, although Invercargill was likely to be showery.

On Tuesday, Christchurch was expected to reach 17C, with showers accompanying a southerly change in the afternoon. Those showers could be thundery with hail.

Auckland was forecast to get to 17C on Tuesday with southwesterlies picking up late afternoon. A high of 15C was expected in Wellington, with a few showers in the late afternoon interrupting a mainly fine day with a southerly change.

The changeable weather for the next couple of days comes after some good warmth during the past weekend, with Niwa Weather reporting Methven in Canterbury getting to 28.3C on Saturday and Middlemarch in Otago reaching 27.9C.

MetService meteorologist Claire Nickson said Millers Flat in Central Otago, south of Roxburgh, hit 28.4C, followed by 27.6C at Roxburgh Airport, then 27.4C at Pukaki Airport near Twizel.

Niwa Weather said that last Sunday, while Whakatāne reached 28.2C and Wairoa got to 28.7C, it was raining heavily in the west of the South Island with 102mm falling in Milford Sound, 93mm at Manapouri and 50mm at Aoraki/Mt Cook.