Wind, rain and warmth are all in the forecast for New Zealand this weekend as our ‘spring like’ weather pattern continues.  A low is deepening out in the Tasman Sea and will move in on Saturday to western regions.

Head weather analyst Philip Duncan says rain is likely in a number of western areas mainly south of Taranaki on Saturday.  “Heavy rain is very likely for the South Island’s west coast, also Mt Taranaki and western parts of the Tararua Ranges”.  Mr Duncan expects the front to fizzle out as it heads north.  “It may be quite similar to the front we had earlier in the week where just a few millimetres of rain made it as far north as Auckland”.

The Weather Watch Centre expects most northern and eastern areas to be mainly dry this weekend.

Nor’westerlies ahead of the front are likely to make for a warm or hot day today and during the weekend.  “On Saturday eastern areas of both islands will be in to the mid to upper 20s and on Sunday that will be confined to the North Island mainly”.

The weekend’s low is one in a series of lows that have affected New Zealand in the past few weeks but Mr Duncan says there are signs the unsettled weather may now be easing.  “Next week a large high is expected to move in from the Tasman Sea… this should peak around the middle of the week with mostly dry weather expected for Christmas Day at this stage”. 

He says several mainly dry days are likely to move in from next week.

Check out the Weather Watch Centre’s official Christmas Day forecast – by clicking here!