New Zealand weather: Sunshine for most today, but wind, rain return tomorrow

A couple were in a caravan at Mokihinui in Buller when an “isolated twister” tipped it at 1am yesterday, leaving one suffering a sore shoulder, Gentle Annie Seaside Campground owner Jesse Paley-Atkins said.

“It wasn’t an area-wide storm - just a random event. The rest of the camping ground and area were unaffected. Fine sunny day here today.”

MetService forecaster Gerard Bellam said the wind would be west to north-west today “so most of the country will be fine”.

Auckland should reach 16C today, with 15C in Hamilton and Wellington and 18C in Christchurch and Dunedin.

Only those on the South Island’s West Coast were likely to need their brolly, with rain - including some heavy falls - expected, and there could also be a few showers on the island’s southern coast.

Unfortunately for weather-battered Kiwis, today’s reprieve would be short-lived.

“She cuts up rough again [tomorrow] as another trough crosses the country,” Bellam said.

MetService has issued strong wind and heavy rain watches across a swathe of the lower North Island and much of the South Island for tomorrow, and some were likely to be upgraded to warnings closer to the time, he said.

A strong wind watch is in place between 6am and 6pm tomorrow for the Canterbury Plains, Banks Peninsula, coastal Marlborough south of Ward, Marlborough Sounds, Wellington, Wairarapa, Tararua district and Hawke’s Bay south of Hastings, where west to northwest winds may reach severe gale-strength in exposed areas.

For Southland, Otago, inland Fiordland and the Canterbury High Country, the same watch is in place but kicks in a few hours earlier.

Heavy rain watches have also been issued for the western South Island tomorrow, from 1am to 8am in Fiordland, 3am and noon in Westland and 8am and 2pm in Buller.

The norwest wind direction means some places can expect unseasonably high temperatures before a southerly change in the afternoon, Bellam said.

Kaikōura was forecast to reach 23C tomorrow, about 8C above average for the time of year, and Christchurch 22C - a 10C jump on yesterday’s high of 12C.

“But then that cold change will come up the country.”

In the North Island, Napier is expected to be the pick of the bunch with a summery 25C, and Gisborne is forecast to reach 23C.

In Auckland, it’ll be 19C, with showers developing in the afternoon.

Cherie Howie is an Auckland-based reporter who joined the Herald in 2011. She has been a journalist for more than 20 years and specialises in general news and features.