Weather Forecast for Whangamata

15 degrees at two weather stations (Airport and Whenuapai) now and the sun's coming out so certainly possible - but some parts of the city may not reach above 14 due to local conditions.

- WW

Hi there, we just lowered it to 8 ..granted that is a big jump down from 12, but we thought the showers would arrive a little earlier than they did.  Will write a story in the near future on why temps can be so tricky - gives great perspective :)

8 is the general temp across the city this morning - some areas will be closer to 9 or 10, some may get down to 5.

Cheers

WW

Hi Andrew - sorry to hear your computer has fried, what a pain!  Yep, I know exactly what you're asking for - click here to view

Cheers

Phil

Hi Rob - nothing to low levels in the next few days but we have Canterbury as a high risk region for snow this winter (we had high risk last year too), so chances are you will see more snow - but unsure when.

- WW

Hi there Melanie

Didn't see it down here in Christchurch but is likely to be a moon halo, check it out here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halo_%28optical_phenomenon%29

Cheers, Aaron WW

Models have flopped back to the weather like this week.

Hi there - it will most likely be a tricky specific day to work out until closer to the time, simply because there is a large low coming in from the Tasman Sea around about then.  So we can expect to see rain bands near Auckland but they will be moving only very slowly from the north west to the the south east (the same angle as the Auckland/Northland portion of the upper NI.  At the moment our data has high confidence of rain on the 4th and 6th and moderate confidence of showers on the 5th.  Hopefully the 5th becomes the dry day!  Can an eye on this link here as it shows the chance of rain for the next 10 days - and match them up with our rain maps (click on the Maps tab at the top of the page).  Should be able to see what we're talking about!

Cheers

PD

Hi there - yes we have plans to introduce much better temperature predictions in the coming months.  We've just this month hired a new web developer who will help grow the site and fix up some annoying bugs.  Temps are top of the list as we want to bring in both a temperature range (A high of 12 to 15 today across Auckland, for eg) and a more accurate 'feels like' temp, 

We don't agree with the 'feels like' temperatures MetService use (for example yesterday they had 13.5 as the current temp and the feels like temp was only at 13).  Ours is more about what it feels like in the wind and in the humidity...so yesterday our feels like temp would've been closer to 11.  So we hope to have this up and running later in the year - it's a subjective thing though, not everyone will agree - but we'll have a more realistic alternative to what is already in the NZ market.

Cheers - and thanks a lot for your support!  It's people like you that really help grow our company to provide more and more services :)

Phil

It's been a bad week in Auckland for kids being dropped off at school - seems that the thunder/hail/showers and squalls are all timed at 8:30am and 3pm!

- PD

With chaotic weather like thi - and the local topography - can create different wind directions around Auckland, but the general wind direction is definitely south west.  Howevere it's constantly shifting a little...it's a WSW wind this morning but will turn more SW again today.

- WW

We can give you a fine weekend and possibly a fine Monday... but no promises after that sorry! (looks like another front moving in around Tuesday)

- WW

Hi there, that's basically what is called an echo - caused by Mt Taranaki and further north the local hills.  If you watch the South Island radars they have sections that disappear due to the mountains. For the radar to work it needs to 'see' the rain clouds - so a hill or buildings can block that and they can also cause interference which seems to scatter the data.  Those are our observations - but if you'd like a more technical explanation then you'd be best to contact MetService as we don't have any engineers working for us. :)

Cheers

WW

Hi there...highest risk was around noon - now we have a "low" risk for the rest of the afternoon increasing to "moderate to high" overnight.  But will be isolated - so can't guarantee if Manukau will get it, or Waitakere or Port Waikato etc.

Cheers

WW

We never removed rain at midday, we changed it from 'rain' to 'showers' developing late morning.  Apologies for the moon glitch - that would be concerning if we were predicting night time for 24 hours!

- PD

Yep we missed that one as it appeared the band was breaking up as it approached Auckland at one stage but kicked into gear as it swept across.

A majority of the time these storms escape Auckland but today it arrived. Keeps us on our toes!

Cheers

WW

Well weatherwise Saturday may be warmer and drier - but to be honest both days carry a risk of showers (30% Friday, 20% Saturday).  Of course Saturday may be busier there though!

To be honest both days look pretty good!

Have fun!
Cheers
Phil

Whoops, was an unfortunate typo, sorry!  Sorted now. :)

Cheers
Phil

Yes it will be disgusting in Auckland with cloudy SW winds and showers that day.

It's not really an issue of accuracy as much as it is a difference of opinion.  There are several weather features that will be developing and moving across the country over the next few days.  A change in the strength and/or timing in any of them could change the forecast for Tuesday.

Each forecaster looks at the data and uses his or her education and experience to help them come up with a forecast.  Sometimes the model guidance is very good and the confidence is high.  Forecasts from different sources end up being quite similar in this case.

In this situation, because of the very changeable nature of this pattern, confidence in the models is not very high.  There are many different solutions presenting themselves and as a result, you see many different forecasts.

Here at WeatherWatch, we believe that Tuesday will indeed be a rainy one.  At the same time, as of last night, the models were indicating that the storm system may move in quicker than currently forecasted.  That means the rain could clear out earlier than expected, leaving at least part of Tuesday dry.

Stay tuned.  We will keep you up to date.

Cheers, Howard