The Calm After The Storm

It was a wintery start to the week, as a series of fronts spread quickly up the country, bringing cold, stormy weather for some in the south.

As the first front moved over the South Island on Tuesday, heavy rain affected the western coasts and snow briefly dropped to 300 meters in the far south. Winds picked up overnight Tuesday, with gusts reaching 139 km/h at Le Bons Bay at 10am Wednesday. With the strong southwesterlies came heavy swell. Banks Peninsula and the east coast of the North Island bore the brunt, with a maximum wave height of 16 meters recorded offshore of Banks Peninsula early Wednesdayevening. Cook Strait ferry crossings were cancelled due to large swell, and debris was left on the south coast roads of Wellington after high tide.

Luckily for Monday to Friday workers, a ridge of high pressure pushed onto the country on Friday, bringing more settled, but crisp weather for the weekend. However, moisture trapped near the surface in combination with light winds under the ridge caused problems for Auckland airport Saturday morning as fog lingered until early afternoon.

The weather becomes more unsettled next week as a low over the north Tasman Sea is expected to combine with a front over the South Island mid-week and cross the country. This brings rain and strong winds to the north, and possible snow to the south. Keep updated closer to the time at metservice.com

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