Weather: Rain, wind, then the cold: Southerly switch to bite north by Wednesday

Showery, windy, thundery weather will continue to pester the North Island until Tuesday and then a southerly will bring a sudden drop in temperatures.

Western areas, including Taranaki, have so far borne the brunt of thunderstorms today, MetService says, and is likely to be hit again early tomorrow.

The showery weather, heavy in some areas, will stretch to eastern areas of the North Island, including Gisborne, Hawke's Bay and Wairarapa today and tomorrow, duty forecaster Mathapelo Makgabutlane says.

Today, the country was getting pelted by a low-pressure system heading in from the Tasman Sea.

Gloomy conditions for the southeastern coasts of the South Island today with low cloud & drizzle set to linger until a cold front sweeps north tomorrow, flushing out the murky conditions replacing them with some 'crisper' air and a few showers. More at https://t.co/hnwmGxU1gR ^AC pic.twitter.com/vLuibqvhMI

— MetService (@MetService) August 24, 2020

"So with that, that's where we've seen all the rain and showery conditions as well as those thunderstorms embedded within those frontal bands as they pass through. So for today that's so far what we're still expecting - that trend of showers, mainly over the west, but I see there's also quite a lot of activity over the central parts of the North Island as well."

Rain has hit the South Island on and off today, but that will ease as the day goes on.

The strong northwesterly winds currently hanging around the Upper North Island aren't likely to ease until late tomorrow, when they will turn westerly.

Tomorrow, most of the country will experience showers to some extent as well as early thunderstorms in the same areas as today as more troughs associated with the system move through.

Plenty of activity in Taranaki at the moment, maybe even one or two flashes of 🌩 Stay safe!
See the full Thunderstorm outlook at https://t.co/BZWb7ZPiRd ^MM pic.twitter.com/wwk84BZbQJ

— MetService (@MetService) August 23, 2020

The southerly change will first hit the lower North Island tomorrow afternoon but won't be felt in all areas until Wednesday.

Temperatures would drop 3C on average, although Masterton, for example, would go from 15C on Tuesday to 10C on Wednesday.

"But on average it's about 3 degrees," Makgabutlane said, "and that's quite noticeable at this time of year."