Your weather: Summer to last just a little longer with warm, dry conditions into Autumn

Warm weather is set to round out the last few days of summer. Photo / File

It's the last week of summer, but don't worry because the warm run of weather is likely to last well into autumn.

But that also means the warm and sticky nights are around a little longer also, with Wednesday overnight temperatures across the North Island in the high teens and even Wellington only dropping to 19.6C.

Much of the North Island has been basking in warm temperatures this week in the mid-20s, mostly thanks to a stubborn high-pressure system to the east of the country holding weather systems at bay in the Tasman Sea.

Overnight temperatures have also been high, which MetService meteorologist Peter Little said was due to a warm northeast flow, light winds and cloud cover.

Meanwhile, the wet weather affecting the South Island's West Coast and high winds in Canterbury this week will start to subside today.

It has been another warm and humid night across much of northern & central NZ, with several places remaining in the high teens. Lower Hutt in Wellington deserves special mention, falling to just 19.6°C overnight https://t.co/ziBZZ8yIbP ^PL pic.twitter.com/YVH8u0to2Y

— MetService (@MetService) February 24, 2021

Little said the Tasman front had moved north, and was bringing some periods of rain to Buller and Nelson today.

But this would "decay" over central New Zealand as it ran into the high-pressure system.

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This all meant aside from low levels of moisture and the odd shower, the last few days of summer were looking "reasonably settled" across the country.

For the upper North Island, this meant daily temperatures in the mid to high 20s and the warm and sticky nights would continue a little longer, with a warm northeast flow keeping temperatures overnight in the high teens.

"At this point the high looks to hold until Monday, when a weather system will come onto the country bringing rain to western areas."

But according to Niwa, while it might be a wet first week of autumn the rest of the month was looking to be more like summer.

The February month-to-date rainfall map is looking pretty brown, which means dry! 🏜️

About 15 locations are tracking toward a near record or record dry month.

Heading into early March, the pattern looks a bit more conducive to rainfall 💧 pic.twitter.com/tyakULL1Uu

— NIWA Weather (@NiwaWeather) February 24, 2021

Niwa's outlook to April picked more long, hot dry spells around the country - and potentially less rainfall in those northern and eastern places feeling most of the heat.

This was bad news for Auckland's water storage dams, down to less than 60 per cent, with Niwa's outlook to April was showing less than average rain for the region.

"There might be some variability in the start of March but overall it will maybe look more like summer than the start of autumn, so it is unlikely we will see the rain needed," meteorologist Ben Noll previously told the Herald.

April and May meanwhile, which were exceptionally dry last year, were looking to have a slightly better chance of rain this time around, Noll said.