KEY POINTS:
Discussion
This is perfect Mojito weather! I arrived home from work yesterday afternoon and after taking my golden retriever puppy for his first real swim in the sea and then jogging home I was thirsty for a good summer drink. Skies were mostly clear, just a few low
cloud and a little a high cloud and a nice light and refreshing sou'wester blowing. We had been talking about mojitos at work so thought it'd be great to have one. I was given a cocktail book two Christmases ago, so opened it up. I had two of the ingredients - ice and mint leaves. So I gave up. To hot to care so I settled for a nice white wine instead.
It's that sort of weather though...long, lazy, days. You can feel the sun's radiation bursting through and life feels healthier even though most of us are trying to figure out how to remove those extra Christmas kilos. The northern hemisphere people have it good - they can eat heaps and then call it "winter fat". We, on the other hand, have to contend with summer's heat!
Speaking of heat, that's what we're in for today.
Showers?
A huge high covers the country - but a front and low is trying to nudge into the far south. Not a huge rain maker for Southland or Otago but showers are likely - especially tonight or early tomorrow.
Cloud?
Not much - a few harmless clouds for most regions - apart from the South Island's west and south. High cloud should develop over Canterbury.
Sun?
A lot.
Wind?
Sea and lake breezes again for most, however - that hot nor'wester is about to blast into the South Island and northerlies for Wellington. They'll pick up as the day progresses.
Severe Weather?
Wednesday is shaping up to be a very hot one nationwide...we'll have all the details tomorrow.
A lot of our data at the Weather Watch Centre is now saying that a large pool of low pressure is likely north of New Zealand this weekend. Areas of concern will be Northland, Coromandel and possible East Cape at this stage. The models are changing significantly each day so our confidence in accuracy isn't high but we are confident that a low will develop north of New Zealand - our forecast for Northland at this stage is for rain or showers and strong, humid, easterlies for Saturday. Keep up to date with the latest on this low here and at weatherwatch.co.nz.
Next Update: Wednesday morning.
- Philip Duncan
Photo: Holiday makers at Pilot Bay, Mt Maunganui. Photo / Paul Estcourt