NZ Herald’s Cheree Kinnear and Bethany Reitsma travel across Tāmaki Makaurau to find the best hot cross buns this Easter. Video / NZ Herald
The school holidays are arriving, Easter weekend is around the corner and it seems the weather is choosing to co-operate, with fine spells predicted for the coming week.
New Zealand’s April climate has historically been touch-and-go, with the autumn transition usually mixing rainy spells with sunshine unpredictably.
But as MetService reports, no weather events appear to be hampering this year’s Easter getaway season with fine spells around all the metro cities.
Meteorologist Mmathapelo Makgabutlane told the Herald that Auckland residents can be optimistic about the week ahead.
“There might be the odd shower here and there, but there are no big weather events in the area for the bulk of the week and heading into the weekend,” she said.
“Towards Friday there might be light showers, but it won’t be bringing any heavy rain and temperatures look mild - around the 20-degree mark.”
Meteorologist Mmathapelo Makgabutlane told the Herald that Auckland residents can be optimistic about the week ahead. Photo / Alex Burton
This settled week of weather will juxtapose the last week of downpours the city of sails endured.
The upper half of the North Island tells a similar story of settled weather, Makgabutlane said, so residents eyeing up a camping trip or time away at a bach will likely be commuting in ideal weather.
Heading further south to Wellington, the country’s windy capital will even ease its gusts for residents on Tuesday and Wednesday before the Easter weekend.
No rain is forecasted for Te Whanganui-a-Tara, possibly some light showers on Monday as MetService reports with a southerly change on the cards.
New Zealand’s April climate has historically been touch-and-go. Photo / Brett Phibbs
“Friday morning could be a showery day for Wellington,” said Makgabutlane.
“Over the coming days headed into the weekend, though, everything else should be settled.”
The South Island stretch from Nelson to Christchurch will see a little bout of showers over tonight and tomorrow, according to Makgabutlane, with a cold front making its way up the island’s east coast.
“It should clear tomorrow and then be settled from there. There will be some westerly winds on the Southern Alps but it should be drier weather for the rest of the week,” said Makgabutlane.
There’s a possibility of showers on the eastern coastline of the lower island heading into Thursday and Friday, but Makgabutlane believes it’s too soon to tell at this stage.
“It could be more of a settled few days,” the forecaster said.
Overall, the weather forecast agency is adamant it’s still early days and with the long weekend still a few days away yet, there’s an understanding things could change before then.
However, given April’s disjointed weather activity of recent years there’s hope for a settled period ahead.
“Typically this time of year we’ll see changeable weather and pressure systems which have things fine for a few days, then cold fronts,” said Makgabutlane.
“We saw snow last week in the South Island - so interchangeable weather, the transition from season to season is very characteristic.”
Auckland already had a strong spell of fog over the course of Sunday morning, MetService attributing this to “the perfect mix of light winds, heaps of moisture and that little bit of cooling from the clearance of high cloud”.
