The weather is so settled across New Zealand right now it’s a bit hard to imagine it will be completely different for most over the weekend as wind and rain ramps up.

There are already signs of change. This morning was a frosty start for many with parts of Auckland on -1 at 8am, parts of Waikato on -3, Central Plateau -4, Northern Canterbury and Mackenzie Country -5 but just down the road the developing north to north west airflow had already pushed Gore to very mild +10 and Invercargill to +9.

This warmer and windier nor’west flow will move up the South Island over Thursday and Friday then up and over all of New Zealand across the weekend and for much of next week too (when it turns more west to south west and becomes cooler).

MAIN HIGHLIGHTS OVER THE NEXT 7 DAYS:

• Milder N to NW winds build over the South Island next couple of days
• NW winds become strong to gale through Central New Zealand over the weekend and some eastern ranges on Sunday
• Rain becomes heavy at times this weekend, off and on, right up the West Coast and also Taranaki (especially the mountain)
• A colder change develops on Sunday and Monday in the lower half of the South Island
• Next week is mainly driven by W to SW wind, they will be blustery at times
• Generally wetter than average over the next 7 days for the West Coast and the south western corner of the North Island (mainly Taranaki)
• Generally drier than average in the east from Dunedin to Kaikoura, from Hawke’s Bay to Gisborne, and from East Cape to Bay of Plenty and eastern Northland.
• The current high departs the New Zealand area on Saturday, the next big high from Australia potentially arrives end of next week (9 or 10 days from now)
• Saturday and Sunday to be warmer than average for many regions, especially in the east
• WeatherWatch.co.nz anticipates land Wind and Rain warnings or watches to be issued by Government forecaster MetService for some regions over the coming days. Keep an eye on their tax funded Severe Weather Outlook for additional info.

– WeatherWatch.co.nz