Wellington forecast for week of temperatures in the mid to high 20s

Sunday, 27 January 2019

Rugged-up Sandy and Kevin McDowell chilling outside their Titahi Bay boat shed in anticipation of an expected heatwave.

A late summer bluster will be broken by a forecast heatwave set to descend on Wellington.

Kevin and Sandy McDowell were sat outside their Titahi Bay boat shed on Sunday, warm in Swanndri and fleece and waiting for the sun to arrive.

'You can feel the heat coming but it's not hot enough to get out the polka dot bikini yet,' Sandy said.

The boat shed, which Kevin bought for $500 more than four decades ago, is the pair's front porch and hub for activities best served with a heavy dose of sun: boating, snorkelling and beach walks.

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Angelo Winter-Robati, 14, from Upper Hutt had fun swimming and diving off rocks with his friends in a popular Upper Hutt swimming hole during a hot spell earlier in January.

And the sun will come. A mass of hot air and possible heatwave will descend on New Zealand as children start returning to school this week.

For Wellington, MetService has forecast a five-day streak of temperatures 25degrees Celsius and above from Sunday, with the hottest, 27C, coming on Tuesday.

Meteorologist Tui McInnes said the technical definition of a heatwave was a consecutive, five-day run of temperatures five degrees above the average, which Wellington may possibly achieve.

'Everyone's going to feel the warmth for sure … but not everyone will meet that technical criteria.'

A mass of hot air, bolstered by a warm sea which refuses to cool it, is responsible for the high temperatures.

And, as the air arrives warm, it will make for hot nights. Overnight maximum temperatures are forecast to sit at 17C to 18C this week.

'It might feel a little less hot in central Wellington just because of the wind, but we are expecting the wind to die down after the first couple of days,' McInnes said.

Hutt Valley will be hotter, with temperatures exceeding 30C on Tuesday, and South Wairarapa will have temperatures in the low-to mid-30s. Hastings and Napier are expected to be similarly warm, in the high-20s and low-30s.

The Kāpiti Coast and Porirua will likely escape the heatwave, beginning the week a little cooler and with an average temperature higher than the capital's.

Not that a few degrees will deter the pair at Titahi Bay, who plan to be on the water. 'Nature's nature, you've got to take it as it comes,' Sandy said.