Orange warnings will be in place for Tasman, Buller, Westland and the Richmond Ranges.
Photo: MetService/Screenshot
MetService has issued severe weather warnings across parts of New Zealand, with heavy rain expected to hit the South Island from Sunday morning.
Orange warnings will be in place from Sunday for Tasman, Buller, Westland and the Richmond Ranges, where up to 600 millimetres of rain could fall in some areas by Tuesday.
MetService says flooding, slips and dangerous driving conditions are possible, with more warnings likely for the North Island early next week.
It is also forecasting over 300mm of rain for parts of the West Coast and Tasman region from Sunday morning.
Forecaster Gerard Bellam says the Tasman region can expect the most rain.
“We’re expecting 350 to 450mm but we might see as much as 600mm about some of the higher peaks there.
“And the other point is that we have a moderate chance of this warning area being upgraded to a red warning.”
Tasman Mayor Tim King said he was not expecting dramatic amounts of flooding, but rivers would be rising quickly over the long weekend.
“What we are requesting is given [it’s] a long weekend, given lots of people are likely to be travelling both around the district and in and out of it, just to bear in mind, keep an eye on the weather, keep an eye on the forecast and council information.”
Westland Mayor Helen Lash was hopeful the weekend’s heavy rain was manageable for the region because it was coming over a long period of time.
“This sort of rainfall has the ability to put us through the alarm bells, no two ways about that, but it just depends on that level of rain coming over a longer period of time that will be what saves us at this stage.”
MetService forecast the system would move eastwards over the weekend, and central and northern parts of the north island would likely also be issued warnings.
Norhtland was currently set to be under a heavy rain watch from late Monday morning till Tuesday.
Headwaters of the Otago lakes and rivers were also under a heavy rain watch, with the Canterbury High Country under a strong wind watch.
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