O’Connor said: “With this feature moving up the country, these cooler south[westerlies] go right across the country flushing out the humidity and the heat as well”.
The National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (Niwa) corroborated MetService’s forecast with their own - saying, “a strong cold front will bring dry and welcome cool changes across the country”.
Overnight lows in the South Island were likely to stay in the single digits from Tuesday until Thursday and daily highs would remain in the mid-to-high teens. Snow was forecast for the Southern Alps overnight today and on Tuesday.
The cold front would bring rain as it pushed up the country, with a heavy rain watch issued in Southland, where 50mm of rain could fall in 12 hours from tonight until tomorrow morning.
Another heavy rain watch, for the Westland and Grey Districts, would lapse at 9am on Tuesday. A severe thunderstorm watch around the bottom of the North Island would end at 8pm tonight.
Temps back up at end of week, return to Jan averages
O’Connor said the dip in temperatures in Auckland would be temporary, with a return to temperatures closer to average for this time of the year towards the end of this week.
It follows weeks of high humidity and temperatures in the City of Sails - Niwa said Sunday’s 29.7C high was the hottest day in four years and the fifth hottest on record.
Parts of Wellington also had their hottest day in two years on Sunday as temperatures in Upper Hutt soared over 28C. Masterton was the hottest town, reaching 33C.
Kawerau in the Bay of Plenty was the hottest town on Monday, hitting 31.7C.
Raphael Franks is an Auckland-based reporter who covers breaking news. He joined the Herald as a Te Rito cadet in 2022.
