Meteorologists are warning New Zealanders not to be lulled into a languid sense of security in all this heat, because a tropical cyclone is hovering north of New Zealand, and tomorrow its arrival will bring severe showers.
Check the forecast for your region on the 1 NEWS NOW weather page.
MetService is reporting Tropical Cyclone Fehi, which formed on Monday off New Caledonia, is on course to sink south towards New Zealand tomorrow.
Although Fehi will most likely have lost it's Tropical Cyclone status by tomorrow when it arrives, it will still bring severe gales and heavy rain to the west coast, from late today until Friday.
A heavy rain watch is already in place for Fiordland, Otago and Canterbury High country, and MetService is expecting many more areas added to that tomorrow.
Here is a list of the areas that are forecast to see dramatic change in conditions from the scorching clear skies today:
- Queenstown should prepare for very heavy rainfall in the early hours of tomorrow morning accompanied by a continuous drop in temperature.
The storms are expected to hit around 10pm tonight, and will see a temperature change from a high of 28 degrees today to just 9 degrees by the end of tomorrow.
- Dunedin is set to be battered with rain all of tomorrow, starting in the early hours of the morning.
The temperature will also drop dramatically, from a high of 34 degrees today, to just 13 degrees by 6pm tomorrow.
- Christchurch will avoid any dramatic temperature drop tomorrow, still forecast for 31 degrees, but late Thursday night rain will set in and result in a huge drop in temperature to 11 degrees over night.
Then the forecast high for Friday, February 2, will be 19 degrees, with a low of 11 degrees - with showers and strong gusty southwesterly winds.
- Invercargill will experience one of the sharpest dips in temperature, where it is forecast to be 28 degrees today at 4pm, and just 15 degrees by 10pm today.
Heavy rain is expected all tomorrow, with strong winds, and the day is expected to end at a cool 10 degrees.
- Alexandra is also forecast to drop from a high of 31 degrees around 4pm today, and then continually drop in temperature until 8am tomorrow when it will hover around 14 degrees.
The town will also suffer a deluge of rain in the morning, with 44 millimetres expected to fall in just two hours around 6am tomorrow.
Check the forecast in your region on the 1 NEWS NOW weather page.
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