Northland to enjoy warm week as temperatures hit high 20s

Northland is in for a week of scorchingly good weather. Photo / Michael Cunningham

• Northlanders can expect warm weather this week, with temperatures reaching the mid to high 20s.
• MetService forecasts mostly sunny days, with isolated showers possible on Friday.
• Niwa’s outlook indicates potential heavy rainfall for western areas in mid-December, followed by humid conditions.

Northlanders are in for a cracking week of warm weather as temperatures rise to the high 20s.

MetService meteorologist Clare O’Connor said while Northland won’t see the 30C temperatures predicted for some parts of the country, it will reach the mid to high 20s in the first week of December.

“Overnight temperatures should be nice as well, 12 to 13 degrees across the Northland area,” she said.

“You’ll avoid the warmer air they’re getting in the central and lower North Island, and upper South Island ... the humid subtropical air that is coming over.

“You won’t get the humidity.”

O’Connor said there would be mostly sunny days until Friday, when there may be a few isolated showers in the west of the region.

“It looks like a warm, pleasant week - a good start to summer.”

According to MetService, Gisborne is set to bake under 32C on Wednesday while temperatures could hit 29C in Napier and Gisborne on Tuesday and Wednesday.

In the South Island, Alexandra, Banks Peninsula, and Cromwell are all forecast to reach 28C on Tuesday and Wednesday and Blenheim to get 29C on Wednesday.

However, Niwa’s recently released seasonal climate outlook carries some damp news for western areas of the country.

There could be a period of strong westerly winds over early to mid-December possibly bringing bouts of heavy rainfall, Niwa forecaster Chris Brandolino said.

“We’re talking the second week, maybe bleeding into the third week, of December, where western areas are going to be favoured to see some significant rainfall.”

Beyond that, the picture was predicted to change, with increased northeasterly winds likely to bring down rainmakers and humid conditions from around the New Year.

Niwa estimated La Nina-like conditions would bring more muggy and rainy conditions to places like Auckland and the Coromandel.

“Then, over late January and into February, our expectation is that we’ll see those northeast flows increase in frequency.”

Jenny Ling is a senior journalist at the Northern Advocate. She has a special interest in covering human interest stories, along with roading, lifestyle, business, and animal welfare issues.