In the all-important leadup to Christmas, MetService is forecasting unsettled, thundery weather, followed by a generally improving trend. A low pressure centre in the Tasman Sea has been gradually moving eastwards and is expected to travel over central Aotearoa/New Zealand on Friday. The low is followed by a developing ridge of high pressure which brings more settled weather.
Although there are currently no broadscale warnings for severe weather for tomorrow, MetService has issued two Severe Thunderstorm Watches for Thursday afternoon and evening, one covering most of the North Island from Waikato to northern Wairarapa, and the other for inland parts of Southland and Otago. This means a particularly severe thunderstorm could pop up in any of those areas.
MetService meteorologist Alwyn Bakker warns, “Severe thunderstorms can bring localised downpours with intensities of 25 to 40 mm per hour.Rainfall of this intensity can cause surface and/or flash flooding.” For the North Island watch area, there is also a possibility of small tornadoes associated with any severe thunderstorms.