WeatherWatch: Autumn is well and truly here

Officials check weather conditions during the NZ v Australia cricket test in Wellington. Photo / Getty Images

The equinox has passed and therefore Autumn is well and truly here and just like clock work the strong winds arrive.

Gales blasted Wellington throughout Monday with gusts over 120km/h in the city and over 140km/h on the hilltops...not strong enough to cause major damage in a city like Wellington but certainly strong enough to affect flights and motorists.

Christchurch and Invercargill both received gales also with gusts up around the 90km/h mark. Of course being nor'westers it's meant summer warmth has lingered in eastern regions with temperatures in the late 20s yet again across the country.

We're now in what I call the "light switch" mode. The nor'wester will be turned on and off every few days like a switch over the next few weeks as we slide towards winter - but highs in the north remain firm. On the weather charts we're now seeing big lows that circle Antarctica starting to inch towards us while the big highs start moving further north too, mainly protecting the northern part of New Zealand. This battle happens every spring and autumn - the fight between highs and lows - and the battle usually takes place over the South Island and lower North Island. This is just the beginning of the strong winds with the MetService already warning more gales may arrive on Wednesday and then again on Friday in the very far south.

Of course the strong winds are often accompanied by heavy rain which builds up on the western slopes of the Southern Alps. This means more rain warnings are likely for Fiordland and much of the West Coast around mid week and again heading towards the weekend.

But the North Island will remain mostly settled - I'm sorry to say very little rain will arrive for dry regions for the rest of March - and early April too. My feeling is that April may quickly give way to wetter weather in the north though... we'll monitor it closely but the highs are definitely showing signs of weakening over northern New Zealand now.

Unfortunately we're not really seeing lows moving over New Zealand - instead they are mostly in the Southern Ocean several hundred kilometres south of Bluff. This means the energy that is pushing the fronts north is a low way away - and they usually run out of puff by the time they are half way up the North Island. So the rain clouds are simply failing to move north.

What we really need are lows to form OVER or very near the country.

I drove down to my home town of Te Aroha in the eastern Waikato on Saturday and I was absolutely blown away with how brown the Bombay Hills were and much of Waikato. You don't notice the dry weather when you're in the city surrounded by sea and trees and buildings. It was my first trip south of the city in about 6 weeks and was definitely a big shock.

Unfortunately I don't see any significant rain arriving for a few more weeks...but hang in there...Autumn has definitely moved in and with it will come rain....eventually.

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