Next few days calmer but not much warmer

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

Kinder weather for the East Coast is forecast, after this week’s chilling blast from the Antarctic.

MetService says the next few days should be calmer, but not much warmer, with daytime temperatures around the 14C to 16C range, and a return to southerlies by the end of next week.

This week has shown just how quickly conditions can change, especially in the hill country, when a cold front sweeps up from the south.

On Wednesday temperatures plummeted over the afternoon in Gisborne from 15C at 1.30pm to just over 8C at 3.20pm.

In the Wharerata ranges the mercury dropped to just over 1C by 7pm, with high moisture levels delivering sleety conditions.

Matawai and Wharekopae were typical of the hill country, down to just a few degrees by nightfall.

Like children on a long car trip asking “are we there yet?”, have we had our coldest day yet?

While Gisborne’s coldest morning was back on July 7, with an air temperature of just 1.4C, the coldest day seems to have been on July 27.

That day had a “high” of just 9.8C and an early morning low of 2.6C, for a range of just over 6C for the whole 24 hours.

Apart from the chill, the south-westerly flow delivered some strong gusts — 117kmh at Pouawa at 3.50am yesterday, and in the Whareratas at 5am.

Matawai, Wharekahika/Hicks Bay and other exposed places also had gusts around 100kmh.

It has been rough off the coast too, with MetService issuing swell warnings along the East Coast, advising caution to the end of the week.

Four-metre plus waves were recorded yesterday by Eastland Port’s buoy in the bay, with perigean or “king” tides at their peak at the moment.