A "significant" high pressure belt is coming to New Zealand this week, bringing dry, sunny conditions for most of the country in time for the weekend.
While the first three days of the week are expected to be unsettled, Weather Watch says high pressure is anticipated for the second half of the week.
That's good news for parents, whose children begin their school holidays this week, but not great for New Zealand's drought-stricken regions - including Auckland, where dams are just 55.8 percent full despite rainfall overnight.
However heavy showers will strike in Auckland and other regions on Monday, NIWA says.
"With bands of showers and drier breaks in between, Aucklanders may start to feel like they're switching between seasons throughout [Monday]," forecaster MetService wrote in a Facebook post.
"This is all as several troughs move through, and later a low pressure system crosses the upper North Island, bringing spells of wet weather. Some of those spells could be heavier with even a rumble or two of thunder."
NIWA says showers and "damaging wind gusts" are forecast for the upper North Island on Wednesday, with those needing further rain this week still facing "plenty of downpour risks".
Weather Watch says weather events could be extreme in the next few days, before clearing up later in the week.
"The next few days ahead bring a number of severe weather risks before the weather calms down - from severe gales to heavy snow, thunderstorms and squally showers," it wrote in a press release.
But it'll be short-lived, with rainfall "about to drop to below normal again" as dry weather moves in by late this week.
"The next big high pressure could linger from late this week, through the weekend and across all of next week, bringing only a few showers here and there otherwise leaning dry," Weather Watch says.
In a weather outlook for July released last week, Weather Watch said huge highs from Australia would bring "extended dry spells" to the country - particularly in the north and east.
