NZ weather sticking to its stereotypes

MetService News Release

2 May 2016

NZ weather sticking to its stereotypes

The weather this week typifies local stereotypes for New Zealand regions; wet on the West Coast, windy in Wellington, dry in the east, and warm in the North. It’s the meteorological equivalent of sticking to what you’re good at.

The driver is a northwest flow from the tropics bringing warmer than average conditions to the country. Two cold fronts on Monday and Thursday make some headway up the South Island, before being stymied by a dominant ridge northeast of New Zealand. Both fronts bring some rain, but mainly in the west. Ahead of each front, strong northerlies will whip through the capital under cloudy skies. Further north, Auckland is looking warm, with humid easterlies towards the end of the week. Napier will be warm as well and even looks set to close in on some May temperature records due to the northwest foehn heating effect.

Although this week’s weather plays out along familiar patterns, there could be a few surprises in the mix as the wind and rain could reach warning levels at times. Rainfall warnings are currently issued for parts of the West Coast, and the severe weather outlook has a chance on Thursday of heavy rain for Kapiti and gales through Cook Strait. Meteorologist Tom Adams advised, “Even though the pattern may seem familiar, it is always worth checking the forecast as it is not unusual for autumn weather to get pretty wild.”

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

MetService issues Warnings, Watches and Outlooks for severe weather over New Zealand.

Warnings are about taking action when severe weather is imminent or is occurring. They are issued only when required.
Recommendation: ACT

Watches are about being alert when severe weather is possible, but not sufficiently imminent or certain for a Warning to be issued. They are issued only when required.
Recommendation: BE READY

Outlooks are about looking ahead, providing advance information on possible future Watches and/or Warnings. They are issued routinely once or twice a day.
Recommendation: PLAN

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