Sunny all day in Wairoa but a bitter cold southerly

Wind has dropped off to nothing, first time in days here in Waitakere that the anemometer has stopped spinning (albeit slowly).  Attached graph - windy isn't it... 
Temperature dropping quite fast still, 6.7°C now - definitely on track for a cold night here.

Not everyone has had snow, not everyone has had heavy rain but most regions have had strong, cold, winds this week as a nasty winter cyclone pushed past the South Island.

The storm, which rapidly developed on Monday night, was fairly small in size then - but over the past three days it has grown considerably, although the centre has weakened somewhat.

On Thursday evening the severe gales continued to hug the very south east and extreme east of the South Island - mostly Dunedin, Coastal Otago, the Catlins and Banks Peninsula.

WeatherWatch.co.nz readers said the gales - which lasted well over 24 hours in some places - felt "strong enough to lift the roof".

However as the winds ease in Coastal Otago they will continue further north along the east of the North Island as the large low continues to slowly push them northwards.

Strong south to south west winds will clip exposed areas from Wellngton and Wairarapa to parts of Hawkes Bay, Mahia Peninsula and exposed parts of Gisborne - however at lesser speeds than what Dunedin experienced as the low very slowly weakens.

By Friday night winds will ease nationwide with gusty conditions limited only to the far east of the North Island.
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Thursday Afternoon - the purple indicates the belt of solid gale force winds just nicking the south east and far east of the South Island.  The rest of country had strong/gusty winds indicated by orange and red.


Noon Friday and the blue colours indicate light winds, so a much calmer afternoon expected for Southland and Coastal Otago - but then the large low pushes strong winds into the eastern side of the North Island - however at a weaker level than what Dunedin faced yesterday.

Maps kindly provided by www.Weathermap.co.nz


- WeatherWatch.co.nz
http://www.weatherwatch.co.nz/comment/reply/14843#comment-form

An anticyclone will move over the country tonight paving the way for sunny
clear skies tomorrow in most places however there is one last sting in the
tail of the departing southwesterly airflow and that is the potential for
heavy frosts to develop tonight and tomorrow morning especially in inland
areas around the country with Central Otago looking to be hit the heaviest.
WeatherWatch.co.nz analyst Aaron Wilkinson says:

"Central Otago could expect lows of around –8 degrees tonight so black ice
will be an issue on the roads in the morning, ice on the roads could still
cause issues for most of the day in areas sheltered from the sun.”

Further severe frosts are likely on Sunday and Monday mornings aswell
however by Tuesday morning an approaching depression from the Tasman Sea
will bring a northerly airlfow over the South Island with higher overnight
temperatures.

WeatherWatch.co.nz
http://www.weatherwatch.co.nz/content/heavy-frosts-tonight