Dry weekend ahead for Tauranga and the Western Bay, more unsettled weather expected early next week

Plenty of sunshine is expected today in Tauranga and the Western Bay and, despite some more cloud on Sunday, the entire weekend should remain dry. Photo / File

Today is the day to get out and about in Tauranga and the Western Bay, with more unsettled weather expected early next week.

Maria Augutis, meteorologist and forecaster at Niwa, said with a high-pressure system in control, this weekend was looking "very good".

Plenty of sunshine was expected today, and Tauranga and the Western Bay could expect some lower temperatures with that clear weather, Augutis said.

"Get out there and enjoy because it looks to be beautiful."

Highs would be in the mid-teens today and tomorrow, and this morning was predicted to drop down to as low as 5C.

Augutis said there would be some more cloud on Sunday but the region should stay dry for the entire weekend.

Temperatures on Monday would rise slightly with those clouds moving in.

She said Niwa was watching an area of low pressure approaching New Zealand and, although it should stay mostly to the east of the country, it could bring some more unsettled weather early next week.

"So this weekend is really the best time to get out there."

Tauranga and the Western Bay were in for a "very changeable" winter ahead, Augutis said.

There would be cold snaps and warm spells, but overall, near-average to warmer-than-average temperatures were expected.

"It looks like the chance of the low average temperatures is very slim."

She said northeasterly wind flows could also be expected through significant parts of the winter and there would be average to above-average rainfall.

This comes after a warmer-than-average autumn in Tauranga and the Western Bay.

The region saw some unique weather events over autumn that brought heavy rainfall, Augutis said, especially in early March with ex-tropical cyclone Hola.

However, there were also some dry patches, she said.

"So overall, we were actually near normal for the autumn."