Weather News

New Zealand's 'White Christmas'

Lachlan Maher, Monday December 24, 2018 - 14:24 AEDT

While the sun looks to be shining over much of Australia on Christmas day, across the Tasman it's a different story, with thick cloud blanketing parts of New Zealand.

A low pressure system lingering in the Tasman over the last few days has already brought days of wild weather to the North Island. Unfortunately, this weather is expected to continue for the next few days, with thunderstorms, heavy rain and strong winds present at times until Wednesday 26th.

Heavy rainfall is expected throughout Monday 24th, resulting in a less than ideal Christmas Eve. A series of heavy rain warnings are already in place, advising that 100-130mm can be expected around the Bay of Plenty, 90-110mm around Coromandel Peninsula and 50-70mm of rain around Northland. Elsewhere about the North Island, rainfall totals could be expected to be between 15-35mm.

The thick cloud should then bring a dreary christmas day to much of the North Island. Current forecasts for the island have around 20-40mm of rain falling in central parts, with slightly less - around 10-20mm, along the west coast. Intermittent showers are forecast for Northland as by the time Christmas arrives, the main rain band will have passed by, meaning that while the cloud will still linger, only 5-15mm of rain can be expected.

Not much is forecast for the South Island as the low crosses the northern parts of the nations. The upper parts may receive 5-15mm, while the remainder should manage to catch some sunshine before cloud increases in the afternoon. This cloud is unlikely to bring any showers to the lower parts of the South Island.

In addition to all of the rain, thunderstorms in the evening are a chance both today and tomorrow in central parts of the North Island, likely bringing with them heavy rain as well as the possibility of small hail.

Fortunately for those who wish for settled conditions, once this system passes on Wednesday 26th, the risk of heavy rains and thunderstorms abates until the new year. At this stage however, it currently looks as if there may be light showers on New Years Eve, and the possibility that another holiday is washed out.

- Weatherzone

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