Sports-filled weekend

Sports-filled weekend

An active southerly change that moved across the South Island and lower North Island on Wednesday continues to move northwards during Thursday, bringing some showers and cooler weather to the east of the North Island. Meanwhile, a ridge of higher pressure builds over the South Island today bringing some sunny conditions.

Although it was a clear start to the day across Southland and Otago, it was a very cold one - overnight minimum temperatures dropped down towards freezing in many spots. However, the clear, calm and dry conditions bode well for the cricket at University Oval in Dunedin today.

Cricket fans will also be watching the weather over Eden Park this weekend as New Zealand takes on Australia, battling it out for the Chappell-Hadlee trophy. "Weather-wise, it looks like a good day on Saturday in Auckland," MetService Meteorologist John Law commented. "Much of the day looks fine and dry with temperatures reaching the mid-twenties. There could be the odd shower showing up on the radar, but chances are Eden Park will stay dry."

If you are not off to the cricket, there is still plenty on this weekend and the weather across the North Island looks dry for many. "The ridge of high pressure remains over the North Island for most of the weekend, bringing settled conditions," said Law. "However, a few showers are possible here and there across the more central parts of the North Island. For the South Island, another front is set to push northwards during Saturday, bringing with it some cloud and showers, especially for the south and west."

A cold front moving north across the country at the start of next week looks set to bring a spell of rain to the South Island on Monday, before crossing Cook Strait and bringing some wetter weather to the North on Tuesday.

Good luck to all the teams taking part over the coming days in the GODZone expedition race: 530km of trekking, mountain biking, kayaking, rafting and mountaineering around the Wanaka region. In particular, good luck to MetService Meteorologist and LandSAR volunteer Nicole Ranger and the rest of Team Earth Sea Sky currently heading to the start line!

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