Scorcher in the south set to continue and spread

Saturday, 2 November 2019

A balmy 26 degrees Celsius in Queenstown brought many people out for a swim in Lake Wakatipu.

Christchurch is expected to join the southern cities nudging unusually high 30-degree temperatures on Sunday.

Metservice meteorologist Melissa Oosterwijk said the highest temperatures in New Zealand on Saturday were the 31.6 degrees Celsius recorded at Alexandra and Ashburton.

The sun setting on an unusual 26.7 degree Celsius day in Queenstown.

Oamaru, Dunedin, Timaru and Pukaki were all above 30C.

Average November temperatures for most South Island centres were in the high teens.

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Having inland and coastal areas hit high temperatures at the same time was quite unusual, she said.

'It makes all of us weather nerds think 'that's cool'.'

Many other parts of Canterbury and Otago recorded temperatures over 25C and that was expected to continue and spread to more eastern areas on Sunday including Christchurch, which could reach 29C.

The warm weather was due to a slow-moving high that came from the Tasman Sea and the foehn effect, where air heats up and dries out as it descends over mountains.

It could lead to quick and dramatic changes in temperature, such as the 10C leap in Oamaru's temperature over an hour by 3pm on Saturday.

North Island temperatures on Saturday were about average for November with the high of 25C in Kawerau.

East coast cities such as Napier, Hastings and Gisborne as well as inland areas of Hamilton and Taupo were expected to reach 30C on Sunday.

There would be a slight cooling in the weather on Monday and 'more normal' temperatures for November would return by mid-week, she said.

FIRE BAN

A ban is in place on fireworks being lit in central Otago.

'We've already had kids lighting them in Alexandra and I'm not impressed,' Otago principal rural fire officer Graeme Still said.

The combination of dry grass, high temperatures and zero humidity across Otago was dangerous.

'That's just a recipe for disaster especially with a bit of wind. We will really struggle to pull a fire up if it gets going.'

The central Otago area was the most at risk and there was a total ban in place on outdoor burning, hot work such as welding, and fireworks, until Tuesday.

'It's just a couple of days – we call them spike days, they're nasty little days but we do get them every now and then.'