The Waitaki seems to be in for mostly settled weather and cool overnight temperatures at least for the start of the week, MetService says.

A broad ridge of high pressure dominates Aotearoa New Zealand early this week and single-digit overnight temperatures will be felt by most of the country for the rest of the week, MetService meteorologist Dom Barry says.

“Unfortunately this ridge is ‘dirty’ and is bringing showers to northern, western and southern areas today (Monday) and tomorrow (Tuesday). 

“It will be disrupted by a low-pressure system and its associated fronts, which approach from the west, bringing wet weather as we head into Wednesday,” he says.

The wet weather is set to hit Te Waipounamu/South Island on Wednesday and into Thursday, moving onto Te Ika-a-Māui/North Island on Thursday and into Friday.

“This is a double-whammy feature with rain bands coming from the south and the west, combining, so we are expecting just about everyone to see some form of rainfall in the period from Wednesday to Friday,” Dom says.

Maximum temperatures are expected to be in the early to mid-teens for most places throughout this week, despite many places still set to experience frosty sub-zero starts to the day, as has been the trend over the last few days.

“This rain system has another ridge behind it, so it appears to be fast-moving. Much of the rainfall should be gone by the end of the working week, although some precipitation will linger about southern and eastern Te Ika-a-Māui/North Island.”