KEY POINTS:
Whether you're a believer of Sept 1st being the start of spring or the date of the spring equinox - either way spring has definitely arrived and it couldn't be more text book if it tried! With no La Nina or El Nino weather pattern conditions are
about as "normal" as they get with plenty of strong winds, showers, snow, chill, heat, sun and clouds!
Over the past weekend light snow fell to low levels across Southland, Otago and Canterbury. Hurricane force winds of 173km/h blasted Castlepoint (southern tip of the North Island) and temperatures went from 25 degrees in Timaru on Friday to single digits during the day on Saturday.
And this morning we saw temperatures plummeting over the North Island with temps falling around 3 to 4 degrees in Auckland, 1 to 3 degrees across Waikato and from -1 in Taupo to just 2 or 3 in Rotorua, Whakatane and New Plymouth. In Hawkes Bay both Napier and Hastings woke to zero today and temperatures will most likely jump 20 degrees as the warm nor'wester makes a return.
So what do we have in store weather-wise this week? In a nutshell, more of Spring! A very big low in the Southern Ocean will brush New Zealand over the next few days competing with a large high north of New Zealand. That again puts New Zealand in the 'squeeze zone' for strong winds, especially Wellington, Wairarapa and Cook Strait where gales are likely Monday night and probably at other times in the next 7 days as the winds shift from lighter south west to stronger northwest, lighter south west to stronger north west.
Read our latest weather news story here.
As I expected earlier this month, the high air pressure over Auckland remains so conditions are staying relatively settled. However this week's low well south of New Zealand will be a good challenge to that high but I think ultimately the high will hold its ground.
While this week certainly looks showery for Auckland - and windier - that high will push back meaning the worst of the weather will stay south of Taranaki. But expect plenty of wind, showers and cloud at least until Thursday.
The long range weather maps are showing this high (in the northern Tasman Sea) will spread a protective ridge back over northern New Zealand by Friday and Saturday - but there's a fine line between the wind and cloud and the settled weather. So check back here for updates on Wednesday and Friday, or daily at the Weather Watch Centre.
By the way - if you have some fantastic Spring photos, send them to us! Email them directly to me at wwphotos@radionetwork.co.nz. We have a limit set at 1MB per email so keep that in mind if you're sending multiple pictures. We'll try and display them here at the NZHerald.co.nz or at the Weather Watch Centre.
Philip Duncan
Pictured above: Kris Snow at the Tauranga Mountain Bike Club time trial, at Summerhill (Reid Road). Photo Claire de Barr, Bay of Plenty Times.
For the latest weather news keep up to date with The Radio Network's new Weather Watch Centre or the NZ Herald weather section.