Sizzling temperatures set to hit 20s and 30s in coming weeks as El Niño hits New Zealand - NIWA

November 2, 2018
Authorities want to make sure people understand the risks of swimming and boating this summer.

Get set for a sizzling November with a warm dry three months ahead.

That's NIWA's three-month outlook, with meteorologist Ben Noll explaining that New Zealand is "on the cusp of El Niño conditions at this point", with a big high pressure system set to swoop in.

"It is going to start off quite warm with some summer like spells over the coming weeks," Noll said  in a NIWA three-month outlook video.

After a cooler-than-average September, El Niño had started to bite in the last week of October. And a high from across the Tasman is likely to see temperatures soar in coming weeks - well into the 20s and "30 or warmer" during the first three weeks of November.

Mr Noll added our oceans will also be great for swimming with water temperature warmer than usual for this time of year.

El Niño had warmed the sea surface temperature "quite significantly" - after cooler sea temperatures around New Zealand in September, "it warmed up dramatically" in late October, a trend he said will continue in November.

If that holds true, increased sea temperature will likely push air temperature higher in December.

But there was a warning for farmers was to plan for the future.

"In terms of rainfall, we don’t see much of it in the eastern parts of the country as we go forward," he said. "This is a climate forecast so it gives you a broad sense of what to expect."

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