Whanganui weather: Cloudy periods and occasional showers to break for fine Friday

Whanganui is expected to have a drizzly couple of days before a fine and sunny Friday. Photo / Bevan Conley

A fine end to the week is expected for Whanganui after a couple of days of cloudy skies and intermittent showers.

MetService meteorologist Clare O’Connor said a sub-tropical air mass causing heavy downpours further north was causing lighter showers in the region as well as warmer-than-usual temperatures.

Rain and cloudy periods were expected for Wednesday morning but it was expected to fine up by the evening.

“You should see an easing of the rain [Wednesday] evening and probably a bit more sunshine in the latter half of [Wednesday] as well,” O’Connor said.

It was expected the rain would return on Thursday morning as a wet weather band passed over the region, but this would change by the afternoon.

“We’re actually having a nice big ridge form over the country so things are going to settle down.”

The high-pressure ridge would remain on Friday, which was expected to be fine and sunny.

Daytime highs were forecast at 19-20C throughout the week, which was warmer than usual for September when the average high was around 15C.

“So a little bit warmer than average because this air that’s associated with this rain is just warmer in general,” O’Connor said.

Whanganui recorded a daytime high of 21C on Monday.

Overnight temperatures were expected to be around average for the month at 8-9C, though the increased cloud cover on Tuesday meant it could be a little warmer overnight.

Finn Williams is a multimedia journalist for the Whanganui Chronicle. He joined the Chronicle in early 2022 and regularly covers stories about business, events and emergencies. He also enjoys writing opinion columns on whatever interests him.