Significant rainfall likely for some later this week

This weekend, sunny and dry weather prevailed in many regions that were recently affected by flooding. An area of high pressure to the east of New Zealand maintains generally settled weather to start the new week, but significant rainfall is signaled for some regions later in the week, including the Bay of Plenty.

Under clear skies and with light winds some chilly starts have been notable this weekend. MetService Meteorologist Peter Little commented, “There have even been some frosts in inland places. The temperature on the Desert Road dropped to -0.6C on Sunday morning, while Manapouri awoke to a misty -0.3C.”

Meanwhile, the tropics have remained active and Tropical Cyclone Cook was named near Vanuatu around midnight Saturday. The now category 2 cyclone is expected to track southwards over New Caledonia during Monday, then move slowly southeastwards.

Little went on to say, “At this stage the computer models we survey are showing a range of possible tracks, so it’s unclear whether the cyclone will come to New Zealand. However, regardless of whether the cyclone heads our way or not, it is likely that a moist northeasterly flow between the tropics, another low over the Tasman Sea and a large high east of New Zealand will bring significant heavy rain to parts of the country later this week. This includes some regions still mopping up after last week’s flooding. People should stay up to date with MetService forecasts, and keep an eye on our Severe Weather Outlook http://info.metraweather.com/e/60812/SWOutlook/cmyn56/523356215 to see which areas may be most affected.”

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