Whanganui hits second highest April temperature since 1978

On Thursday Whanganui Airport recorded the second hottest April temperature since 1978. Photo / Bevan Conley

Whanganui Airport recorded the second hottest April temperature since 1978 with 25.6C recorded on Thursday.

MetService meteorologist Jessie Owen said the average high temperature for Whanganui was 18.8C and Thursday’s temperature topped that by 6.8C.

“That’s definitely warm for this time of year.”

In Whanganui city, it was even hotter as the temperature leapt up to 27.6C; however, MetService does not have long-term climate records for the central city.

Owen said looking ahead to the weather for the weekend there was a low pressure system that would bring rain to most of the North Island on Friday.

There was a heavy rain watch in place for the Manawatū region from 7pm on Friday to 1pm on Saturday.

“It will be occasional showers of fairly heavy rain.”

The rain would start on Friday afternoon with some northeasterlies picking up but into Saturday the rain would start to clear by the evening.

There were also heavy rain warnings for Mt Taranaki and the Kāpiti Coast southwards down to Wellington, Tararua Ranges and Wairarapa.

A strong wind watch was also in place for Whanganui from 7pm on Friday to 7am on Saturday.

Owen said there would be some gale northeasterly winds from Saturday through to the evening.

“Northerly winds will be strong for inland parts of the Whanganui region but not Whanganui city itself.”

The best of the weekend’s weather would be on Sunday and Owen said conditions should settle as the low pressure system moved away.

“It’s just looking like a little bit of cloud on Sunday.”

The highest recorded April temperature for Whanganui Airport was in 2014 at 26.2C.

MetService advised people to keep up to date with the latest forecasts in case changes were made or more areas were added to the heavy rain watches.