A wet weekend for many

A front moved over the country on Friday, followed by a low centred near central New Zealand this weekend. This has brought rainfall to many places, but most notably Nelson, inland Canterbury and North Otago. Those in Nelson had already seen a reasonable amount of wet weather this Winter, but Oamaru had been very dry up until this weekend.

“Nelson itself received 67.4 mm of rainfall on Friday as the front moved over the northern South Island – about 75% of their usual July rainfall in just one day,” said MetService Meteorologist Claire Nickson. “Many weather stations in the ranges to the west received over 100 mm of rainfall during the 24 hours, including Takaka Hill with 113.7 mm.”

The front was followed by a low, moving over central New Zealand, which caused a southeasterly flow to develop over the eastern South Island. This onshore flow brought thick cloud and rain, with a number of Watches and Warnings issued for parts of Otago and Canterbury.

“Those in Oamaru would have noticed quite a change to the dry Winter they had had thus far,” Nickson said. “Only 12.4 mm of rainfall was recorded in the town throughout June and July up to Friday, but 38.2 mm of rainfall was recorded just this weekend up to midday on Sunday.”

Looking ahead, the low is expected to weaken throughout the remainder of today (Sunday), before a weak ridge takes its place, causing the weather to settle for most places. However, the east coast of the South Island will see low cloud and occasional drizzle for a few days yet, and Gisborne and Hawkes Bay will see rain developing as we head into the new week.

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