Wind, rain and falling temperatures this weekend

MetService News Release
Thursday, 21st February, 2019

Wind, rain and falling temperatures this weekend

Despite Tropical Cyclone Oma remaining in the Coral Sea, MetService are monitoring the potential for severe weather which is expected to impact many parts of New Zealand during the next few days.

“A Severe Weather Watch is currently in place for Friday and Saturday for upper parts of the North Island, as warm tropical air is expected to bring rain with potentially heavy falls to Northland and north Auckland,” says Meteorologist Rob Kerr, “and the current Severe Weather Watch also covers a slow-moving front affecting southwestern parts of the South Island, with heavy rain possible until the early hours of Friday morning.”

Other parts of the country are likely to get wet on Friday, with rain from Taranaki down to Kapiti, and scattered showers over eastern parts of the South Island as southerlies develop behind a front there.

During the weekend the warm air from the north gets pushed away as a broad and active low moves out of the Southern Ocean towards the country. The low from the south is expected to spread rain, strong winds and much cooler temperatures across New Zealand from Saturday afternoon and parts of the South Island may see temperatures in the low to mid teens for Saturday and Sunday. The heaviest rain is expected to fall on the eastern parts of both islands on Sunday.

“Many dry areas will see some welcome rain during the next few days,” says Kerr, “however, with the centre of the low from the south currently expected to stay west of the country until it reaches the upper North Island on Sunday, the Tasman District is only expected to see brief rain this weekend.”

Those heading to the Six60 gig at Western Springs in Auckland on Saturday are likely to enjoy a break in the weather as remaining shower activity clears up early afternoon, and fresh southwest winds die away in the evening. Across the Capital, we’ll havecooler temperatures on Saturday, then strong winds and showers affecting Te Matatini at the Cake Tin on Sunday.

To get the most up to date information on severe weather around the country, or any other forecasts, see metservice.com or on mobile devices at m.metservice.com, or download the MetService App. 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

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