“That is below average because the minimum for this time of year is usually about 7C, so 2C is a noticeable jump,” O’Connor said.
For the rest of the week, the daytime temperatures was set to be about 16C to 17C with overnight lows of 9C to 10C.
“We are seeing this warming across the whole country as we head into the weekend.”
A much warmer northwesterly wind flow was spreading across the country.
Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday should be fairly settled with fine conditions.
Friday and the weekend are expected to bring strengthening northwesterly winds and a dumping of rain.
“There is still uncertainty as to when, where and how much rain. The weekend is looking wet, especially Saturday.”
O’Connor said the outlook for the weekend was “a bit miserable” for the North Island but that could change.
“Up until Friday, it should be nice.”
Whanganui residents should keep up to date with the forecast in case there were any changes ahead of the weekend, O’Connor said.
Eva de Jong is a reporter for the Whanganui Chronicle covering health stories and general news. She began as a reporter in 2023.