Weather: Sunshine, warmer days before new looming storm may hit New Zealand

The flood-hit north is in for a sunny, warmer reprieve this weekend, with a forecaster saying it’ll be good to get outside as a looming new storm threatens to bear down on New Zealand next week.

Overnight temperatures have plunged to near- and below-freezing across New Zealand, with Waiouru and Saint Arnaud recording a chilly -3.2C and Auckland down to 7C.

But MetService meteorologist Peter Little says this wintry cold snap is set to be short-lived, with coming days much warmer and mainly fine bar the odd passing shower.

After a stormy week that saw the top of the country once more inundated by torrential rain leading to flooding, slips and sparking a local state of emergency for stormy-weary Auckland, Little said by Saturday the sun would return and the mercury will climb back to usual autumnal highs.

For the first time in days, there are no wind, snow or rain alerts anywhere in New Zealand.

“It certainly looks like it’s going to be a nice morning for those folk getting out to play morning sports or those standing on the sidelines watching their children play.”

He said Auckland would enjoy daytime temperatures back in the balmy high teens, more typical for this time of year than experienced in recent days.

Brrrrrr...it has dropped down to a chilly -3.2°C at both Waiouru and Saint Arnaud this morning https://t.co/ziBZZ8QRpX ^PL pic.twitter.com/6WJfnFaZaI

— MetService (@MetService) May 11, 2023

“They do warm up. Yesterday was a pretty cold day. Down south there were a lot of single-digit highs, even Auckland yesterday it was pretty cold. It’s back up to 16C today which is a bit warmer and then it just climbs again across the weekend, with 17C tomorrow and 18C on Sunday, which is pretty much what you’d expect for this time of year.

“So it’s a fairly short, sharp cold snap for much of the country but temperatures are returning to normal for much of the country.”

And while there were likely to be a few passing showers on Mother’s Day, particularly across Auckland, these were not connected to any major weather systems.

It's cold! But, it could be worse. pic.twitter.com/G8UTMmR9gg

— NIWA Weather (@NiwaWeather) May 11, 2023

Many eastern regions on both islands would miss the rain and enjoy days of sunshine.

“The weather looks relatively settled apart from a few showers right through until the end of Wednesday,” said Little.

That’s when yet another storm may bear down on New Zealand next week, with forecasters watching the Tasman Sea for a possible brewing tempest.

Yesterday, three forecasting agencies warned that a tropical deluge could return about midweek after a short spell of fine weather this weekend.

Little said according to the latest guidance this morning, a number of computer models had a developing low-pressure system over the Tasman Sea potentially seeing rainfall on the top of the country next Thursday and Friday.

But less than a week out, some modelling showed the rainmaker skirting New Zealand and not making an impact.

“At this stage is something we are keeping a close eye on but it’s certainly not a sure thing,” said Little.

He advised people to keep up to date with forecasts.

If severe weather was looking likely to affect people MetService would issue watches and warnings, he said.