KEY POINTS:
It's the last week of summer so what's in store for us weather-wise this week? After last weeks sub-tropical rainstorm Sunday saw most places drying out yesterday.
Across northern New Zealand the sun came out by noon and as it started to heat up the wet ground the air became very muggy even if overall humidity levels weren't too bad. I don't think my lawn has ever grown so fast as it did in the past few days. I mowed my lawns on Wednesday and yesterday some parts were already over 10cms long so I had to mow again. The heat and wet grounds will combine to make excellent growing conditions for many regions this week.
It was a pretty hot day on Sunday for most places and the first few days of this week will stay the same although not at levels seen earlier this month. The sun is still very hot and despite the days getting shorter now (more about that below) it's still packing a punch, but the winds are definitely a little cooler than they've been.
An anticyclone (high pressure system) is moving in for the next few days from the Tasman Sea so expect your lawn to start to dry out. Recent rains have soaked well into the soil so even if it doesn't rain for another week or two I think most people won't need to worry about heavily watering the gardens - except for maybe those eastern parts of the North Island.
Now the heat didn't make it everywhere on Sunday - again places south of Christchurch barely made it into the mid-teens. It's been a current pattern lately with winds coming in from the south and east making for much cooler weather - hardly summer-like at all and especially noticeable after all the mid 30s and even 40s not so long ago.
This week that high will broadly cover most of the North Island and upper South but that cold air will continue to affect places from about Timaru southwards, along the coastline all the way to Invercargill. Temperatures mostly in the low teens during the day, maybe peaking in the afternoon in the mid-teens.
A low is going to roll across Southland and Otago around about Wednesday bringing cooler air and more showers and rain to southern and western regions. That low and associated front may brush the North Island on Thursday but nothing significant at this stage.
The weather patterns around New Zealand continue to be very changeable so I think as we go into March/autumn we'll see a continuation of big highs that last only a few days with lows moving in from the south and north from time to time bringing rain.
As I mentioned earlier the days are getting shorter. The sun is rising over an hour later than it was back on Dec 21/22 (the longest days of the year). Sunset is also happening sooner - around 8:10pm in Auckland, down from 8:40pm back in mid/late December. Of course the further south you go, the greater the difference in sunset times as southern centres have longer days in summer than those in the north (and much shorter days in Winter).
In our lead story at WeatherWatch.co.nz Monday I talk about "summer fading". I don't mean the summer weather is now over, but I guess if you could put the summer weather all into a 24 hour period we'd now be coming up to the late afternoon/early evening part. Most places in the north should still have several more weeks of relatively hot weather while the South Island will start to see more of a mixture of cold spells and hot spells. In fact, down south that's already started.
Philip Duncan
Pictured above: Reuben Shadbolt mows his lawn. Photo / Kellie Blizard
