{"id":394172,"date":"2026-04-23T18:57:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-23T18:57:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/394172\/"},"modified":"2026-04-23T18:57:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-23T18:57:09","slug":"auckland-northland-face-orange-heavy-rain-warnings-thunderstorms-possible","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/394172\/","title":{"rendered":"Auckland, Northland face orange heavy rain warnings, thunderstorms possible"},"content":{"rendered":"

Between 80-120mm of rain is expected, with a chance of downpours up to 40 mm per hour, and possible thunderstorms.<\/p>\n

\u26a0\ufe0fUpdated Warnings\u26a0\ufe0f<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udfe0\ud83c\udf27 Orange Heavy Rain Warnings have been issued for parts of the upper North Island; including eastern areas of Northland, eastern Auckland north of Whangaparaoa and Great Barrier Island.<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udfe1\ud83c\udf27 Heavy Rain Watches remain in place for eastern Northland about\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/cmm4pAZmMz<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 MetService NZ (@MetService) April 22, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

After a week that brought destructive rain and strong winds to central parts of the country<\/a>, a more settled stretch of weather is on its way for the Anzac Day long weekend, though temperatures are expected to feel increasingly wintry.<\/p>\n

MetService meteorologist<\/a> Samkelo Magwala said New Zealand would be \u201cunder the influence of a ridge of high pressure\u201d in the coming days.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost places will enjoy sunny spells, although mornings will be cold with frost possible in some inland areas.\u201d <\/p>\n

Despite the calmer outlook, Magwala said weak systems could still bring isolated showers to parts of the eastern North Island, particularly north of Hawke\u2019s Bay, later today.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe South Island will also enjoy ridge conditions and more settled weather for most places, except the far south where a cold front is brushing through,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Auckland is forecast to reach a high of about 16C today, with southerly winds expected to keep the morning feeling cool.<\/p>\n

After being thrown into local states of emergency this week<\/a>, Wellington and the Wairarapa are expected to see largely fine conditions today, with only some passing cloud forecast.<\/p>\n

A high of 15C is forecast for the capital.<\/p>\n

Severe weather warnings and watches<\/p>\n

In addition to the warning in eastern Northland, eastern Auckland, north of Whangapar\u0101oa, is under an orange heavy rain warning until 3pm.<\/p>\n

The same warning applies to Great Barrier Island until 2pm.<\/p>\n

Though Magwala said there was only a \u201cslim chance\u201d the warnings would be upgraded to red level, locals were still encouraged to clear their drains and gutters to prevent flooding.<\/p>\n

A heavy rain watch is place for the Coromandel (north of Whitianga) until 10am, and for Northland (excluding south of Kait\u0101ia) until midnight.<\/p>\n

Outlook for the long weekend<\/p>\n

MetService meteorologist John Law said most regions were likely to remain dry during tomorrow\u2019s Anzac Day dawn services.<\/p>\n

\u201cDawn services are looking mostly dry, but it will be a cold start, especially inland,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWai\u014duru is set to be one of the coldest spots, with temperatures around 1C at daybreak.\u201d<\/p>\n

Canterbury and Otago are predicted to be the warmest parts of the country this weekend, with Dunedin expected to reach about 22C tomorrow.<\/p>\n

MetService said that was around 5C above the seasonal average.<\/p>\n

Looking to Monday, Law said: \u201cThere will be a few showers moving into Southland and parts of the West Coast, but for many \u2013 especially those recently hit by severe weather \u2013 it will be a welcome break.”<\/p>\n