Drought conditions are spreading across the North Island while the eastern South Island dries out fast too. We’ll have more details in our February outlook – which we’ll be issuing on Friday – about rainfall chances as we head through February. 

But the news isn’t good for the North Island, which continues to look completely to mostly dry in many places. Apart from the odd isolated shower or drizzly patch which brings some very localised relief, the majority will likely be drier than average for the next two weeks in the drought areas of the upper North Island.

It’s not all bad news – as we’ll detail later on Friday in our February outlook. Once the heatwave from Australia passes over New Zealand this weekend and next week, there will be a cooler change. Beyond that, some chances of rain from mid-February onwards as high pressure heads southwards. 

The upper North Island has been affected by stubborn high pressure to the north of NZ and in the north Tasman Sea for months now. Lately, this has helped pull down the humid weather – but has blocked rainmakers, pushing them further south into the West Coast. High pressure next week may be more South Island and central NZ focused and that might allow sub-tropical weather to shift further into the Tasman Sea and closer to the North Island – lifting humidity but also lifting the chances of precipitation. We’ll have more details today (Friday).

– WeatherWatch.co.nz