Wet Weather Continues

It’s certainly been a mood dampener, with a wet end to the week for many, most of whom will see a wet start to the next week as well.

A low-pressure system has moved over the Tasman Sea from the Southern Ocean, which has already brought severe weather to southern parts of Australia. We have also experienced some effects of the system, with frontal systems lingering over us during the weekend a feature of the low.

Despite a fleeting clearance in the rainfall, the unsettled trend in the weather is set to continue as the low-pressure system slowly moves towards us. “The extended frontal system has pushed away from the North Island, seeing a brief improvement in the wet weather,” said MetService Meteorologist Tui McInnes. “However, the main guts of the system are still lying out west and injecting fronts into our area, which means that any improvements in the weather are likely to be temporary” continued McInnes.

The South Island is more disparate; the far south generally escapes most of the wet weather, whereas upper parts of the Island lie under a stationary front, holding in the rain and cloud. “While the passage of today’s front gives us that fleeting clearance of the wet, the orientation of the fronts brings more rain to the upper South Island for the coming days”, said McInnes.

Low cloud and fog are likely to be the most significant and disruptive elements as we start the week. “The moisture with this system is providing conditions ripe for low cloud and fog,” said McInnes, with a timely reminder “that people take care and stay safe, particularly when out and about in declining weather conditions”.

Further ahead, as the low-pressure system moves over New Zealand it will have weakened, still producing significant weather, before a cooler end to the week. “The weaker state of the low does reduce the risk of severe weather; however, this doesn’t completely discount the need for warnings later in the week” said McInnes, continuing “following this, a southerly flow will bring cooler temperatures to end the week, very much a reminder that we are approaching winter.”

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