A plume of smoke from the Australian bush fires is expected to make landfall across the North Island of New Zealand on Wednesday, creating a vibrant, colourful sunset.
The plume is expected to appear in the western areas of the North Island on Wednesday evening, including Taranaki, Waikato, Northland and Auckland.
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NIWA meteorologist Ben Noll told Newshub those areas of the country should be on "sunset watch".
"If there is any smoke on the horizon that will help to enhance the colours of the sunset," Noll said.
The only chance to see the smoke will be during sunset, as the plume will make landfall from midnight until the early hours of Thursday morning.
"Because people will be sleeping, we probably won't see it," Noll said.
"It should be visible in the Gisborne area around sunrise on Thursday, and then push offshore after that."
In the South Island town of Alexandra over the weekend, some smoke did cover cars and homes, but the key difference between the weekend and Wednesday night is the wind.
The winds are expected to be gusty overnight for much of the North Island and that may help to keep most of those particles lifted off the ground.
"Last weekend the winds were quite light, which allowed the particles to fall down towards the ground," Noll said.
"It doesn't rule the possibility out entirely but I think the chances are lower than what they were in the South Island on the weekend."
There's a chance Kiwis may smell smoke if they happen to be awake, but the strong winds are likely to keep particles moving and elevated off the ground.
Noll says New Zealand should be "relatively dust-free" through to the end of the working week.
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"As we go into the weekend, there will be just a little bit over the North Island but it will be minimal. The plume is set to visit New Caledonia and Vanuatu rather than hang around New Zealand."
Due to cloud and possible rain forecast for the South Island today, their chance of seeing the colourful sunset is quite low.
However, Noll says if you happen to be flying up the South Island and landing in Auckland this evening, you may be in for a beautiful view.
WeatherWatch says despite the smoke heading our way, air pollution levels remain "good nationwide".
"There is hope the smoke will be high enough in the atmosphere to not cause too many problems in NZ... it should be short-lived with a westerly wind quickly moving it through," they said in a statement.
Newshub.
