Fine end to work week before a weekend of wet weather

Fine end to work week before a weekend of wet weather - Thursday 23 June 2016

Thursday 23 June 2016

A number of areas experienced heavy rain with the passage of a front yesterday – especially over the upper North Island last evening when some parts of Auckland and even Tauranga recorded 20mm or more in one hour resulting in surface flooding in places. “Tomorrow there will be a brief respite to the wet weather, before a low pressure system in the Tasman Sea spreads a strong, moist northerly flow over the country on Saturday,” explained MetService Meteorologist Ciaran Doolin.

Much of the country is affected by showers or periods of rain today, with thunderstorms possible in western areas of central New Zealand. Wind is also a factor and there is a Severe Weather Warning for severe gale west-northwest winds for parts of Hawke’s Bay and Wairarapa from this afternoon to the early hours of Friday morning. Tomorrow the showers clear from the South Island and become confined to the west of the central North Island, while it becomes mostly fine elsewhere.

On Saturday, periods of rain with heavy falls and possible thunderstorms are expected for the northern and western parts of the country, with scattered falls spreading further east later in the day.

“Into Sunday, most areas across the country see periods of rain. Heavy falls are possible, especially eastern Otago and South Canterbury, along with northwest Nelson and the central North Island. Depending on the final track of the low – and there is still some uncertainty in the computer models – the ski fields about the Southern Lakes may see some snow on Sunday and into Monday, as the low brings relatively cooler air in from the southeast, lowering the freezing level,” Doolin added. Large waves of 4-5m associated with the low are expected to affect western beaches from Buller northwards on Sunday.

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