The last weekend of lockdown will see most of New Zealand relax in "settled" weather, with sunny spells across the North Island.
Metservice forecasts "cloudy mornings" but "fine afternoons" this weekend, which is both the long Anzac weekend and Kiwis' last in lockdown. While there will be sunny spells, Kiwis are reminded alert level 4 requirements mean they can't dash down to the beach or park to bask in the good weather and hang out with friends.
For those waking up and feeling the chill, don't worry, meteorologist Andrew James says by the afternoon there will be "respectable temperatures" in the east of both islands.
Residents of Napier and Hastings are particularly lucky as they can expect to relax 24C on Sunday afternoon. Blenheim will hit at least 21C in the afternoons right through until Tuesday.
But while the north sees the sun, the West Coast's long weekend will be bookended by heavy rain brought about by a "pair of pesky fronts".
"Fiordland and Westland are forecast to bear the brunt of these features, with heavy rain on Saturday, and again on Monday. The fronts also drive strong and gusty northwest winds across central and southern New Zealand," James says.
These fronts will "rapidly weaken" as they move north, leaving western parts of the North Island with only the scraps.
"Other than these light falls on Saturday night, Kiwis in the North Island, and especially those north of Taranaki, have a good weather recipe for their weekend, with cloudy mornings giving way to mainly fine afternoons," MetService reports.
Weatherwatch is painting a similar picture of a relatively dry weekend. Their outlook shows some showers in the west, strong winds in the south and around the Cook Strait, and warm temperatures.
"There might be a couple of days that are cooler, but generally speaking, right through for the rest of this month, we are leaning warmer than average," forecaster Philip Duncan says.
