North Island to see out Easter under clear skies as isolated showers and clouds forecast for South Island

Areas in the central North Island and expected to see frost this morning, as clear skies are forecast to prevail on the first day of the month. Photo / 123RF

Holidaymakers are tipped to see “perfect driving conditions” for their trip home according to experts after a chilly start to the morning for some.

Areas in Auckland got down to 6C overnight, while Hamilton awoke to a cool 3C.

The coldest area was Taumarunui, which saw a bone-chilling 0.2C chill.

Taumaranui also recorded the lowest temperature of the day yesterday, plummeting to -1C before dawn. The warmest region was the Bay of Plenty, with Kawerau reaching 25C and Whakatāne 23C.

🌡 What's hot this Easter Sunday? Or is it what's cold? 🤔

🗓 Well it's the last day of March and our winds are coming from the south, so while it isn't exactly hot, the upper North Island looks to be sunny all day with respectable highs around 20°C

🧥 There'll be a bit of a… pic.twitter.com/Jcgybsyde2

— MetService (@MetService) March 30, 2024

MetService meteorologist Dan Corrigan said today would be “perfect for driving” with dry skies and a bit of cloud.

“You’d be very unlucky to see any rain today no matter where you are in the country, I suppose,” Corrigan said.

MetService meteorologist Paul Ngamanu says Easter Monday will see “pretty settled” weather, with a ridge building over the country from today.

“The only fly in the ointment is there’s a lot of cloud trapped under that ridge, so it’s likely to be cloudy across much of the South Island.”

🃏 Despite the date, Mother Nature doesn't have too many tricks up her sleeve this week 😊 pic.twitter.com/9ewBWECRgH

— NIWA Weather (@NiwaWeather) March 31, 2024

MetService was also forecasting isolated showers for the south of the South Island on the first day of the month, “but nothing too major”, Ngamanu said.

The North Island is to fare a little better than the south today, and things would only improve as Kiwis headed back to work on Tuesday.

Northern Auckland and Northland could also expect to see an isolated shower or two throughout Monday.

Weather for the rest of Easter 🌦☀
The low to the east of the North Island moves away tomorrow, and the area of high pressure over the South Island spreads over the whole country. There's still plenty of cloud around though, this is what we call a "dirty high" ⛅💨 pic.twitter.com/Qh0T0JRiJv

— MetService (@MetService) March 30, 2024

Ngamanu said temperatures would start to “creep up a little” on Tuesday and heading into Wednesday due to a flow coming from the west, “which helps to lift temperatures up”.

“We’ll be getting a few temperatures around the low 20Cs for the eastern South Island on Wednesday.”

But those warmer temperatures wouldn’t come without rain, with showers only developing in the South Island on Wednesday ahead of a trough of low pressure coming in from the Tasman Sea.

Ngamanu said a front would begin to move up the country on Thursday, bringing a period of rain, “but nothing out of the ordinary”.

As far as weather forecasts go, this one isn't particularly egg-streme 🐣🐰 which is what you want on a long weekend!

⬆️ Watch that wind direction though. This weekend's air has arrived by Polar Express 🚆 🐧 pic.twitter.com/5RKWz1dDOY

— NIWA Weather (@NiwaWeather) March 29, 2024

MetService said there was a “low confidence” for rain levels to reach warning criteria in the west of the South Island for Westland, Buller and the west of the Tasman District on Thursday, but did not expect any severe weather for the rest of the country.

“There may be a bit of wind ahead of the front as it moved up [the country] on Thursday, but at this stage it’s looking a bit run-of-the-mill,” Ngamanu said.