The week ahead shows spring is not far away, with MetService forecasting westerly winds and wet, thundery weather in the west, and drier conditions in the east. With average weather comes average temperatures, but a chill creeps in ahead of the weekend.

A complex low-pressure system to the south of Te Waipounamu/the South Island throws a series of active rainbands over the country throughout the week, with heavy falls and thunderstorms possible for western areas from Monday right through to Wednesday evening.

MetService meteorologist Clare O’Connor offers more detail: “These bands of rain - with embedded thunderstorms - are relatively short-lived, but there are a number of them that pass over, battering the west coasts of both main islands over the next couple of days.”

Out east, everything looks a lot drier. Residents of eastern areas of Aotearoa New Zealand can expect to remain mostly dry until early Wednesday, but remnants of a cold front bring some wet weather to Bay of Plenty and the East Cape Monday evening.

“Wednesday morning brings a shift from a northwesterly flow to southwesterlies. This shift brings more precipitation to that previously dry east and clears up conditions in the west by Wednesday night.” O’Connor details.

A building ridge of high pressure on Thursday will see a respite from the showery weather, however the clearer skies will bring a morning chill that will be missing earlier in the week. The ridge looks to be brief; a new low developing off the east coast of Australia approaches Aotearoa on Friday, and while there is uncertainty about the impacts it will have, a wet weekend looks likely for the west again.

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