Although the week gone has been mainly fine weather, southerly winds covered much of the country from Monday, meaning temperatures were more along average for this time of year.

Towards the end of the week as the southerly winds had given way to a northerly flow, temperatures have been on the rise. MetService forecasted a settled weekend with a weak front affecting the South Island, and temperatures starting to resemble more summery weather.

Centres across the North and South Island reached around 25-30C on Friday and a few stations got around 31-32C on Saturday. While the weather has remained mainly dry, a weak front has brought some light rain to parts of the South Island this weekend.

“Ashburton topped the maximum temperatures yesterday with 32C, with a few stations following behind it at 31C, these included Gisborne, Timaru and Methven,” explained MetService Meteorologist Kyle Lee.

“Temperatures continue to be the focus as we go into the working week as a few centres are likely to reach heat wave conditions. In New Zealand a heat wave has been defined as 5 consecutive days where a place reaches 5 degrees above its average temperature for that time of the year,” continued Lee.

At this stage, Rotorua and Whitianga are on track to reach these conditions as a ridge of high pressure holds its ground to start the week ahead. Similar weather is forecast until midweek when a front over the South Island gains some momentum and makes its way towards the North Island.

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