Wet start to 2016 but fine weather to follow

Wet start to 2016 but fine weather to follow

Monday 4 January 2016

The first weekend of 2016 brought rainy weather to many parts of the country. The highest rainfall total over the weekend was 138 mm recorded at a station inland of Westport. Many drought-stricken areas received some useful rainfall totals as well – Methven recorded the most rainfall in Canterbury with 63 mm. Further north, Masterton received 51 mm through the weekend, and early Monday morning.

“A ridge of high pressure is now moving onto the country, pushing away the weekends’ rain,” said MetService meteorologist Claire Flynn. “Most places should see some fine weather over the coming few days. However, a few showers are expected around Northland, Coromandel Peninsula, western Bay of Plenty, as well as the far south. The odd shower could also be seen about the Canterbury High Country.”

The weekends’ rain was caused by a moist northeasterly flow, bringing humid air from the tropics. This was then pushed away by a cool southerly change.

“Temperatures in many places around the country are currently below normal for January, due to the southerly flow. As the ridge builds over the country, temperatures should gradually return to normal during the week,” Flynn said.

The fine weather is not set to last, however. A low pressure system approaches the country from the Tasman Sea at the end of the week. This should bring rain or showers to most places by the weekend, though there will be lesser amounts in the east of both islands.

Keep up to date with the latest forecasts and any watches/warnings at metservice.com or on mobile devices at m.metservice.com. You can also follow our updates on MetService TV, at MetService New Zealand on Facebook, @metservice and @MetServiceWARN on Twitter and at blog.metservice.com

ENDS

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