A hail storm swept through West Auckland leaving locals stunned at golf ball size stones. Photo / Victoria Bidgood.
A hail storm swept through West Auckland leaving locals stunned at golf ball size stones. Photo / Victoria Bidgood.
New Zealand is in for a golden spell across the upcoming long weekend with sunny with a sub-tropical jet stream bringing summer-like temperatures to parts.
MetService meteorologist Clare O’Connor said the east of both the North and South Islands are forecast to experience warmer temperatures than normal for this time of year.
A warmer sub-tropical jet stream is set to blow in from the north bringing much milder air after a wintry snap brought snow to alpine passes and wild weather to the top of the country.
It will see temperatures hitting 20C and higher, with parts of Hawke’s Bay rising to 23C and Christchurch up to 21C.
“Overall, a brighter sunnier weekend. In terms of a long weekend, it’s a good one,” O’Connor said.
Napier was likely to see the hottest temperatures across the long weekend with 20C forecast for Friday and Saturday rising to 23C.
At holiday hotspots in the top half of the North Island temperatures were forecast to remain steady in the high teens for most of the weekend.
Temperatures in Northland are expected to remain steady in the high teens throughout the weekend with Kerikeri and Paihia both hitting 20C on Friday.
Similar temperatures were forecast for the Coromandel, Thames and Whitianga both reaching 19C on Sunday.
In the south, Christchurch was forecast to leap from 12C today to 21C on Saturday followed by a crash back down to 13C on Sunday, while temperatures in Dunedin are set to reach 19C on Sunday before dropping to 13C on Monday.
On the west coast, a period of wet and windy weather is forecast with MetService issuing a heavy rain watch for parts of Westland on Saturday.
A strong wind watch was also issued for Queenstown Lakes District, Central Otago and Canterbury, Fiordland, Southland and Stewart Island from late Friday evening to early Saturday morning.
👀Turning to the South Island
📅A weather system from the west brings the next round of weather for the start of the long weekend, starting late Friday
🟡Watches have been issued for places expected to be the wettest and windiest🌧️💨 pic.twitter.com/f7ZRCIY6cX
