Australian dust cloud to give dusty red sunrises and sunsets in New Zealand
Thursday, 14 February 2019
If you're living on the country's west coasts, you could be in for a spectacular sight on Friday morning.
Dust that's blown over the ditch from Australia will likely cause some pretty red sunrises and sunsets for parts of the country.
The 2300-kilometre long dust cloud, likely made from dust and smoke from Australia's wildfires, headed our way across the Tasman Sea this week thanks to north-westerly winds.
MetService meteorologist Amy Rossiter said Friday's sunrise might look a little bit redder than usual, as dust lingered high above the country.
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The best spot to witness the hazy-red sky would likely be on the West Coast of the South Island, she said. Although a rain watch was also in place for the area.
Sunrises with a strong red hue might also be seen in western areas on the North Island, such as Wellington and Taranaki.
The dust clouds coated parts of the south-east of New South Wales in Australia this week, as well as Canberra and Sydney.
Strong winds carried it across the Tasman Sea on Wednesday. However, by the time it reached New Zealand the dust was high up in the atmosphere.
These dusty sunrises and sunsets were 'a bit of an oddity, you could say that', Rossiter said.
Rossiter said satellite imagery showed the dust had actually 'dissipated a lot' on Thursday evening.
It would likely disappear towards the end of the week as a cold front moved its way up the country.
On Thursday, temperatures in Canterbury almost broke records with a blistering hot 35.6 degree Celsius day recorded in Cheviot.
However those high temperatures are expected to drop towards the end of the week, with a cold front forecast to move fairly quickly up the country.
People in the south, including around Christchurch and Ashburton, will see those temperatures drop to a high of just 17C on Saturday.
Invercargill was forecast to get a high of 14C on Saturday.
The North Island was not expected to see such a significant drop in temperatures, Rossiter said.
By Sunday, the cold front was expected to weaken and a warmer high pressure system was forecast for the country. Temperatures for the latter part of the weekend were expected to climb back up to the low-mid 20s, she said.