One week ago severe gales were blowing down trees, demolishing barns and blowing large trucks over – today we have light winds and mostly dry weather right across the country thanks to a large high pressure system.

The anticyclone won’t stay long – giving each island roughly two days of settled weather this week.  Tuesday & Wednesday for the South Island and Wednesday & Thursday for the North Island.

You can tell the high is moving quickly by where the centre will be placed.  On Wednesday morning it will lie over Cook Strait.  By tonight it will be around Bay of Plenty.  By noon Thursday a few hundred kilometres north east of East Cape and by Thursday night it’s gone.

For Wednesday most of New Zealand will be dry, but with a sub-tropical low north east of Gisborne a few showers are possible for those north eastern regions.

By Thursday nor’west winds build over the lower two thirds of New Zealand and while they could be gusty in exposed places they will be nothing like last week.  In fact, these winds may help boost temperatures in the east and north into the late teens or even early 20s – but without too much severe weather.

Severe weather risks over the next couple of days: Frosts possible in sheltered areas. Heavy rain possible for the West Coast on Friday.  Windy weather returns for some north of Canterbury and south of Auckland on Friday – at this stage we think winds will be below warning levels.
 

– Image / File. a sunny day in Auckland, uploaded via our App by Roderick Davison

– By weather analyst Philip Duncan,  WeatherWatch.co.nz