Several warnings are in place for the North Island.
Photo: MetService/Screenshot
A rainy start to winter is on the way, with orange heavy rain warnings for some areas.
MetService said a front moving in from the Tasman will bring heavy rain and possible thunderstorms to western areas of the North Island, from Taranaki to Wellington.
Heavy rain watches and warnings have been issued for Taranaki, Horowhenua, Kāpiti, and Wellington from late Thursday evening. They are at the orange level for Bay of Plenty, east of Whakatāne and Taranaki north of Eltham.
In Taranaki, between 90-120mm of rain is expected, and 150 to 200mm around Taranaki Maunga between 11pm Thursday and 7pm Friday.
The heavy rain will spread to central parts of the North Island on Friday morning, affecting Waitomo, Taumarunui, Taupō, and eastern Bay of Plenty.
In the eastern Bay of Plenty, up to 70 to 90mm of rain is expected between 5pm Friday and 5am Saturday.
MetService said the possibility of thunderstorms will push up the risk of higher hourly accumulations and gusty winds for some areas as well.
Meteorologist Samkelo Magwala said “even without the exciting cracks of thunder, these embedded thunderstorms could bring more localised impacts”.
“While there is plenty of rain about, it isn’t falling in the places that are the most in need at the moment. Many places in the east coast of the South Island had their driest May on record, and while a few spots of rain can be expected over the next few days, they likely won’t top up the tanks very much,” Magwala said.
The front is expected to move further east, leading to easing conditions from Friday evening into Saturday.
The mercury will drop at the weekend with southerly winds developing behind the front this weekend, bringing colder temperatures and even some frosty conditions.
MetService said scattered rain is expected as a cold front moves through the South Island on Sunday into Monday, affecting the southern and western regions of the South Island and spreading to the lower North Island late Monday.
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