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Southern Islanders should prepare for a gloomy Christmas this year, with rain and wind all day long.
MetService is forecasting a high of 16 ° C in Christchurch on December 25.
Meteorologist Lewis Ferris said the rain will start in the morning and persist into the evening.
“The south winds will turn towards the northeast in the afternoon. It is not going to be a great day for the Cantabrians.”
A gloomy week will follow in the garden city, with rain every day.
Niwa reported that the high of 16 ° C on Monday was 20 ° C cooler than in 2015.
It is expected to be much further south, with Dunedin reaching temperatures of 17 ° C.
“There will be periods of clouds during the day with southerly winds. It is more likely that there will be some wet weather in the afternoon.”
Temperatures are also expected to reach 16 ° C in Timaru, 17 ° C in Queenstown and 18 ° C in Wanaka.
The further north of Christchurch, the better MetService forecasts the weather.
Temperatures are expected to reach 20 ° C in Blenheim and 22 ° C in Nelson, which will be mostly fine in light winds.
Forecasts suggest that Nelson will be the sunniest place to be, while Invercargill will be the wettest, with a high of 15 ° C.
Data from MetService shows that this year’s Christmas weather is an outlier compared to the last 10 years.
Rain, like that expected on Friday, has not been seen on Christmas Day in Christchurch since 2013.
The gloomy weather will continue into Boxing Day, with forecasts of cold southern mornings in Christchurch.
“Those southerly winds will add to the wind chill, so again the weather doesn’t seem that good.”
MetService predicts a relatively stable Christmas Day for most other places in the country.
Tropical Cyclone Yasa, a former Category 5 system that devastated parts of Fiji and killed four people, has now downgraded to a former Tropical Cyclone as it moves south of Tonga.
At one point it appeared to be tracking a direct hit over the North Island but, thanks to a powerful high pressure ridge this week, the system has weakened substantially and any remnants seeking to track the southeast of the country.
However, two low-pressure systems are expected to arrive in the coming days from across the Tasman Sea.
While they are not tied to Yasa, they will bring warm tropical air from the northwest, which means a lot of humidity for the west coast of the South Island.
