Fine and sunny weekend forecast for Northland

Porsha Hills, 1, with mum Marie Shelford enjoying the fine weather at the Whangārei Town Basin playground. Photo/John Stone

It's a case of putting away the umbrellas and digging out the sunhats this weekend as Northlanders are in for a weekend of fine weather.

MetService meteorologist Angus Hines said this weekend's weather "is looking pretty good" for Northland.

It follows a couple of weekends with wet weather. Kamo's Christmas Parade narrowly avoided a watery end two weeks ago, and the Whangārei A&P survived the threat of a monumental downpour last weekend.

Hines said conditions tomorrow are really good. It is expected to be nice and sunny, with maybe a bit of cloud in the afternoon.

"Sunday is looking like another predominantly fine and sunny day."

The wind that started out southerly on the Saturday, comes around to being southwesterly on Sunday.

Hines said temperatures are expected to reach 22 degrees in Whangārei on Saturday and 23 on Sunday.

"Because we have that southerly, it's not a full on scorcher but pleasant."

Kerikeri will experience similar temperatures, reaching 24 and 25 degrees on each day of the weekend respectively.

Kaitaia's highs are forecast to be 21 and 22 degrees, while Dargaville will be a little cooler, seeing 18 and 19 degrees.

It's a chance for Northlanders to attack the garden before Christmas or make the most of one of the plethora of events organised over the weekend.

The region's club cricketers, who for the most part have been rained out for the past two weekends, should also be able to enjoy some quality time out on the park.

Hines said the lows were "fairly standard" for this time of year.

They range from 10 to 14 degrees across Northland. Hines said they are driven by the clear conditions which make them a shade on the cooler side of things.

Just last week, severe thunderstorms and intermittent torrential rain kept emergency services busy as drivers grappled with wet roads.

In three hours there were 100 lightning strikes with the majority associated with the severe thunderstorm in Whangarei.

The fine and sunny weather over the weekend is forecast to extend into the beginning of next week. There is no hint yet of what the forecast might be for Christmas Day.