Prolonged warmth after dry November

Today is the last day of November, but looking back over the month what stands out is the very dry nature of November 2017 for many areas of New Zealand. This has been the second driest November in Auckland since 1962 and in Wellington since 1928.

“Christchurch Airport has had the driest November on record since 1943, with just 1.4mm recorded this month,” said MetService meteorologist Andy Best, “Oamaru has also seen the driest conditions since 1941, with just 6.2mm recorded there so far this month.”

With a ridge of High pressure continuing to dominate our weather pattern into the start of next week, warm temperatures are set to remain for much Aotearoa. Although a front is set to clip the far south of the country on Saturday, northwest winds ahead of this front are expected to warm temperatures even more over the Canterbury, Otago and Southland regions this weekend. MetService is forecasting maximum temperatures well above the average for the south, with Christchurch expecting 30C on Saturday. This heat is expected to continue for a few days, with hot temperatures continuing into the first week of summer.

Light winds and coastal sea breezes around the county combined with instability and humid conditions over many places are ideal recipes for the development of convection and consequently thunderstorms. Many inland parts of the North Island will be affect by thunderstorms today and tomorrow as will parts of the South Island. People can go to the MetService website www.metservice.com for the latest forecasts of severe weather, especially the location and intensity of expected thunderstorms keep abreast of any Severe Weather Watches or Warnings which have been issued.

“The New Zealand Flower and Garden Show in Auckland, The Palmerston North Christmas Parade and the Mudtopic Festival in Rotorua, will have generally fine but they all have the potential to be affected by a few showers over the weekend,” advised Best.

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