Weather: Chilly nights bringing frosts across the country despite sunny spells

A cold start for Christchurch with frost in Hagley Park last month. Photo / George Heard

Kiwis can look forward to a promising weather outlook for the first week of the school holidays, with a mix of sunny days and chilly nights on the way for most of the country.

After a chilly week that saw the coldest morning of the year for parts of the country on Friday, MetService meteorologist Ngaire Wotherspoon said a shift in weather patterns will bring a high-pressure ridge across the country from today.

A southwesterly flow is bringing showers to southern regions, including Dunedin, and cloud and rain to Auckland and Northland.

This flow is expected to ease over the next couple of days and a large high-pressure ridge that is expected to stick around for a while moves in, promising more stable conditions.

“Auckland and Northland are on the edge of it, so they probably will still see a little bit more unsettled weather than everywhere else, but it’s still going to be one or two showers or a bit of cloud.”

“What that means going forward is much lighter winds, opportunities for things to get quite cold overnight, that still situation that you get under a ridge of high pressure is a really good set-up for frost and also for fog and low cloud, especially some of those more central areas in the South Island,” Wotherspoon said.

🌦 Southwesterly winds push showers into western and southern areas
💨 Strong/gale wind over the lower South Island creates mountain waves
☀ Plenty of sunshine in eastern areas
⛰ Whakaari/White Island remains in a state of unrest pic.twitter.com/48KQpBCpzd

— MetService (@MetService) July 6, 2024

Despite the potential for fog and frosts, the high-pressure system will act as a stabilising force, bringing clear skies and reducing wind speeds, making for pleasant daytime conditions.

The lower South Island, which is experiencing clouds, showers, and strong winds today, should see an improvement.

A strong wind watch for coastal areas is expected to lift by early afternoon, paving the way for the high-pressure ridge to bring finer weather as the week progresses.

“We’re looking at that cloudy, showery stuff easing over the next couple of days, as well as that ridge movement over most of the country, [the lower south] will probably also be in the fine weather areas eventually. We’re just waiting for that current weather to clear out,” Wotherspoon said.

As the school holidays commence, families planning outdoor activities can look forward to extended periods of sunshine.

However, the colder overnight temperatures will bring frost, particularly in central South Island regions, so caution is advised for frosty roads in the mornings.

Ben Tomsett is a Multimedia Journalist for the New Zealand Herald, based in Dunedin.