Low pressure system approaching mid-week

A low approaching from the Tasman Sea is set to spread rain and strong northerly winds over most of New Zealand from the middle of this week.

A rain band associated with the low should move onto western parts of New Zealand late Tuesday, then move slowly across the rest of the country on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

“This system is dragging in some very humid air from the tropics which brings significant potential for heavy rain, especially over the northern half of the North Island and the north and west of the South Island,” commented MetService Meteorologist Stephen Glassey.

Strong winds are also expected to impact some areas, especially around the top of the North Island late Tuesday and Wednesday.

Before this weather system arrives, a humid northeast flow will continue to bring warm days and nights across the country. One of the warmest places over the next couple of days is likely to be Southland with Invercargill expected to reach maximums of 31 degrees on Sunday and Monday.

“There may not be much respite from the humid conditions this week, as the humidity will actually increase as the low gets closer, especially over the North Island,” said Glassey.

MetService will be keeping a close eye on how this system evolves and is likely to issue severe weather warnings in the coming days. It is important people keep up to date with the latest forecasts as we start to get more certainty about exactly which areas will be impacted and when.

Official Severe Weather Watches and Warnings are reviewed and re-issued by MetService at least every twelve hours, and more often if necessary. 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. 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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