Auckland's hot, sunny weekend saw the mercury reach 30C in parts of the city yesterday - and the fine weather is set to continue today, before turning cloudy with showers tomorrow.
Yesterday's official reading of 29C was short of Auckland's hottest temperature of 32.4C, set on February 12, 2009, at Whenuapai Air Base.
By lunchtime yesterday, Howick and Pakuranga in the east and Henderson in the west were basking in 30C temperatures. Hamilton also sweltered in 30C temperatures through the day and past 5pm.
WeatherWatch analyst Philip Duncan said today would be another hot day in the upper North Island but could be a little breezier with the remnants of Cyclone Victor coming in and lowering the temperatures in some coastal areas.
Tuesday and Wednesday would get a little bit cooler with the winds picking up, cloud building and a few showers.
"It's going to be quite a warm, humid week though, for the north of the country with showers and high humidity," he said.
By Thursday, Mr Duncan said, winds would change to easterly and the big heat would return to the upper North Island.
"Victor itself is not going to bring a lot of weather to the country, but once it passes by the North Island it does change the weather pattern. There could be more humidity, more showers and more cloud for northern New Zealand for the next 10 days.
"It's good for the farmers and gardeners.
"They are very happy to hear rain back in the forecast."
Mr Duncan said people at the North Island's east coast beaches should be aware of the dangers from swells and big waves created by Cyclone Victor.
"I'm not sure if what happened in Bay of Plenty on Saturday was anything related to Victor with that boy drowning, but this is what we see almost every time there is a cyclone that is offshore.
"We almost always see a death or someone being swept out to sea.
"So we are trying to put out a message that even if the weather is really lovely at your camping ground or your beach there is quite a dangerous storm well out at sea that is changing the conditions on our east coast beaches," he said.
Mr Duncan said people should use commonsense and stay alert if they were on rocks, were looking after children or were not confident in the water.
Outlook
Auckland/Hamilton/Whangarei
Today: Sunny and hot. High 20s. 30C in some spots.
Tuesday: Cloud and showers. 27C.
Wednesday/Thursday: Warm and humid. Mid to high 20s.
Tauranga
Today: Winds and clouds pick up. 26C.
Tuesday: Cloudy. 25C.
Wednesday/Thursday: Hot and humid. 27C/28C.