MetService meteorologist Peter Little said the lower South Island looked like a bow of a ship, "directing the cloud either side of the country". New Zealand may be known as the land of the long white cloud, but it wasn't on Monday afternoon. MetService meteorologist Peter Little said satellite imagery showed the lower South Island looking like the bow of a ship "directing the cloud either side of the country". On Monday there was a large area of high pressure over the country and a southwesterly flow, which pushed a small amount of cloud onto coastal parts of the South Island. Little said clouds were due to move over the upper North Island on Monday evening.

Source: Stuff February 10, 2020 03:23 UTC