After a rough winter, sunny days are just around the corner. Photo / Paul Estcourt
After a rough winter, sunny days are just around the corner. Photo / Paul Estcourt
KEY POINTS:
New Zealanders can soon start enjoying longer summer days as daylight saving kicks in.
Daylight saving begins on Sunday and ends on Sunday April 5, 2009.
Over the past few weeks heavy winter rain lashing the country cut power, destroyed houses, blocked roads and isolated a small town.But take some comfort in knowing the worst of the weather is over.
MetService forecaster Mark Pascoe says sunny skies will follow a north-bound front over the country.
The front will bring heavy winds over Wellington and Wairarapa tomorrow and by Wednesday will bring brief periods of rain to Auckland. The weather will have settled by Wednesday night.
Gisborne and Hawkes Bay will reach temperatures of up to 20C which is warmer than usual, Mr Pascoe says. Auckland won't be far behind with 17C.
Wellington will be the coolest North Island spot, dropping to 8C or 9C overnight.
The West Coast of the South Island is expected to be drenched in hundreds of millimetres of rain over the week.
Boaties taking advantage of yesterday's sun kept the Auckland coastguard busy. By 5pm it had responded to 18 calls - well up on the Sunday average of about five calls .
Coastguard northern region duty officer Steven Perreau said it was typical to have a spate of calls in spring because often people had not used their boats for some time and took to the water without checking them.
Meanwhile, the Kawakawa-Clevedon road is still closed because of a large slip caused by the heavy winter rain last month.
The AA Roadwatch warned of several other North Island slips on State Highway 35 near Ruatoria, on State Highway 37 at Waitomo, on a blind corner at Mapiu, south of Te Kuiti, and two slips 2km apart in the eastbound lane on State Highway 31 at Ngutunui.
