Soil moisture loss outpaces rain across eastern regions
Light frosts are possible in inland areas of the South Island on Friday and Saturday nights.
|October 27, 2026Listen to the full interview:
This episode featured as part of the Weather segment in partnership with HawkEye Pro from Ravensdown.
Soil moisture is falling faster than rain replaces it in eastern regions.
Blue Skies Weather’s Tony Trewinnard says nor’westers are drying Canterbury, Marlborough, Wairarapa and Hawke’s Bay.
“We actually lost, in the last 10 days, more moisture out of the soil than came in with that rainfall,” he says.
He says the North Island east coast is drying faster than the South Island east coast. Rain eases as fronts move north from Southland.
Next week’s north to northwesterly airflow brings a chance of heavier rain to the northern North Island.
Light frosts are possible in inland South Island areas on Friday and Saturday nights. He says by late October even a few tenths of a degree below zero can burn new shoots on grapes and fruit trees.
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Watch the full interview:
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