Tekapo and its famous Church of the Good Shepherd was the coldest place in the country yesterday at -7C. Photo / File
Tekapo and its famous Church of the Good Shepherd was the coldest place in the country yesterday at -7C. Photo / File
Kiwis should feel slightly warmer when they get out of bed in the coming days with northerly winds set to bring higher temperatures.
Yesterday was a similar story to much of last week with the mercury dipping below zero in many parts of the country.
Coldest of them all were those in inland southern areas of Te Waipounamu (South Island). Tekapo dropped to a frosty -7C while Dunedin Airport got to -5.4C. In the north, Waiouru reached -5.5C.
Auckland, which hit its coldest morning of the year on Wednesday with some places falling below zero, reached 4C at the airport but some areas further from open water may have been closer to zero.
Today's weather was expected to continue the cold trend with plenty of frosts across the country. Eastern areas of Northland and Gisborne may see some showers alongside Fiordland, which could become drizzly later in the day.
However, MetService meteorologist Aidan Pyselman was optimistic temperatures were on the rise tomorrow and Tuesday, as the high pressure system hanging overhead was removed by impending northerlies.
"This high [pressure system] starts receding to the North Island [tomorrow] and we have northerlies developing over southern parts of the country and that sees a bit of a rise in temperatures," he said.
The North Island, Te Ika-a-Māui, may see frosty conditions tomorrow but the South Island would be warmer, Pyselman said.
Hopefully conditions this week won't be as frosty this week as they were at the Hawke's Bay Racecourse in Hastings in May last year. Photo / File
Wanaka was set to hit 7C overnight, which was about 7C higher than its average for this time of year.
Pyselman had a warning for later in the week, when southwesterly winds may replace the northerlies, seeing temperatures return to low levels.
He estimated the likes of Wanaka and Queenstown could reach between -3C and -5C by Wednesday or Thursday.
Unsurprisingly, Fiordland could be hit with heavy rain tomorrow and on Tuesday as a result of the northerly front, which could also bring strong winds for large parts of the South Island.
In another fairly probably prediction, Pyselman speculated Wellington could see strong winds later in the week, while areas in Taranaki could see heavy rain.
