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Summer may have taken a holiday yesterday but don't expect an end to hot weather any time soon, say experts.
Aucklanders enjoying the weekend's respite from the stifling humidity shouldn't celebrate yet - the typical La Nina weather we're experiencing could bring more lows from the subtropics, says Weather Watch's Philip Duncan, which will bring with them more sticky and hot conditions.
"The humidity has not gone, it's just taken a little break for the weekend," he says.
MetService's Bob McDavitt agrees that the humidity and heat may well return over the next few weeks. We can expect some sunshine early this week but that may give way to a few tropical downpours later in the week. "The anticyclone moving across the country over the weekend is bringing a cooler change, but that high will bring some more sunshine early next week and then will move away towards the end of the week."
Duncan also predicts that more wet weather's on its way. "The Coral Sea northwest of New Zealand is a breeding ground for some of our biggest lows that bring heavy rain, and we're likely to see more of those," says Duncan.
But even though the sunshine may be fleeting and the rain plentiful, summer won't be over for some time yet, at least for the North Island.
"This weekend is near to the peak of summer," says McDavitt. "The forecast for the next few months is for warmer conditions than normal."
Duncan says South Islanders are already seeing the start of the colder weather. "Timaru last Saturday was 13 degrees, Christchurch for most of the day was at 14. For our hottest month of the year, it's quite surprising for Christchurch to be so cold, especially as Auckland was up in the low to mid 30s."
South Islanders can expect more of these changeable conditions, says Duncan, because of the high pressure systems in the southern Tasman Sea.
