Keep your raincoat handy

The changeable weather of late continues through the last few days of Autumn and into the first week of June as a couple of frontal systems are forecast to march across New Zealand from the west, separated by narrow ridges of high pressure. MetService Meteorologist Peter Little commented, “Most parts of the country can expect showery periods of weather interspersed with sunshine this week.”

On Saturday morning fog once again affected flights at several airports around the country, including Auckland Airport where around 80 domestic flights were delayed or cancelled. Meanwhile, torrential downpours of rain associated with an active trough caused flash flooding and slips across parts of Bay of Plenty on Saturday morning. A number of weather stations in the area recorded 30 to 40mm of rain in just one hour. Further south, a front followed by cooler southerlies moved up the South Island, accompanied by a period of rain.

On Sunday, a ridge of high pressure built over the South Island, bringing settled weather and mostly sunny skies. In the meantime, the cold front continued to move northwards over the North Island, which helped to maintain the cloud and shower activity there.

The ridge over the South Island moves eastwards onto the North Island on Monday as a frontal system approaches from the Tasman Sea. “As showers and winds over the North Island ease early this week, then skies clear, fog could again become a problem for some airports and motorists”, added Mr Little.

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