Fine spell of sunny weather turns thoughts to icecreams and barbecues

Darcy Walls, 4, enjoys the warm spring weather at Coyle Park, Pt Chevalier. Picture / Dean Purcell

Fine weather which has blessed Auckland and much of the North Island for more than a week is likely to continue today.

Sunny skies bringing temperatures of up to 19C with only light breezes have created a summertime feel for most residents, with many pulling out their barbecues and lining up for icecream.

A Movenpick Mission Bay staff member said lines of more than 20 people were forming throughout the day.

"This week the school holidays have finished and we are back to normal, but it's like summer is starting now," he said.

Service stations around the city were reportedly busy with residents filling their gas bottles for the barbecue.

However, sunny conditions here have been a world away from atrocious conditions in Australia, where emergency crews were mopping up yesterday after New South Wales was battered by torrential rain, winds of up to 160km/h and snow in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney.

More than 30,000 people were left without electricity as freezing conditions and road closures hampered efforts to restore power, and airlines struggled to clear backlogs of passengers stranded at Sydney Airport after thunderstorms caused major disruptions.

But New Zealanders should not get too smug, as MetService forecasters have issued a severe weather warning for parts of the South Island from turbulent weather arriving from the Tasman.

They are predicting up to 180mm of rain falling on Fiordland and lower Westland from this afternoon until tomorrow, with substantial "spillage" into headwaters of Otago and Canterbury's lakes and rivers.

A cold front heading on to the country from the west is also expected to give the heave to the anticyclone enveloping the North Island, bringing rain from tomorrow night and persisting through much of Saturday, although skies may brighten up again on Sunday afternoon.

"The rain band is going to arrive in places like Auckland on Friday night," meteorologist Peter Little warned yesterday on the MetService's web television channel.

"It's going to be quite a slow clearance [of the front], so unfortunately much of Saturday's looking like a bit of a write-off for much of the country."

But Mr Little said temperatures should remain comfortable, ranging up to 18C in Auckland, only slightly cooler than enjoyed in recent days.

Fellow MetService meteorologist Nicole Ranger assured the Herald last night there would be no need for people to bring their woollies back out, and said the weather should start to fine up once the front passes over.

"That might even be by Saturday afternoon - that's still a bit far out, but it could fine up a bit behind that front.

"Then on Sunday, it's not looking too bad really."

Looking even further ahead, the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (Niwa) forecasts average or slightly above average temperatures with normal rainfall for the North Island until December.

The South Island was expected to have slightly below average temperatures and slightly more rainfall.

Meanwhile, New Zealand and some of its neighbours have been put on alert for a higher than usual chance of tropical cyclones striking this summer. Peak tropical cyclone season is usually from January to March.

Forecasting agencies in the South Pacific said for the coming tropical cyclone season, the risk for New Zealand was slightly higher than normal.

Additional reporting: APNZ