Orange heavy rain warnings and watches in place across much of the west coast of both islands, but temperatures will stay warm as subtropical air continues to flow down from the north.
MetService said there was plenty of heavy rain in store for Northland, Taranaki, Wellington, Tasman and Marlborough.
MetService meteorologist Mmathapelo Makgabutlane said the northern and western part of both North and South Island would be mostly affected by heavy rain.
“We are expecting to add more areas to the heavy rain watch for the North Island,” Makgabutlane said.
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Heavy rain warnings were issued for Northland, where 100-130mm of rain could fall until 3pm on Thursday, with a possibility of thunderstorms. MetService said streams and rivers could rise quickly and cause slips with the amount of rainfall expected in the area.
metservice
Rain warnings and watches were issued by MetService stretching into Friday.
Western parts of Auckand and Waikato had heavy rain watches in place until 6pm on Thursday, with watches also issued in Taumarunui, southern Taranaki, Taihape and northern Whanganui.
In Taranaki, up to 450mm of rainfall could take place in the next 39 hours.
Tasman, northwest of Motueka had a heavy rain watch in place until 8am on Thursday, but MetService noted the area along with Buller, were likely to have “more significant and prolonged” rain on Friday.
A heavy rain warning was in effect for Horowhenua to Wellington including the Tararua Range for next 24 hours with a possibility of 100-130mm of rain to fall through until 9pm on Thursday. The peak rates of 15-25mm of rain per hour could cause surface flooding, slips, and rising streams and rivers.
In South Island, 300mm of rainfall was likely in 42 hours in Nelson and Marlborough, and 100-150mm of rain was expected in Westland South of Otira.
“Some areas might be added to warnings and watches, so we advise people to continue to stay updated.”
But it would be warm for much of the rest of the week, Makgabutlane said.
“It will be another warm day [Thursday] with tropical and humid kind of conditions. We are looking at maximum temperature between 18 and 22 degree Celsius for the day, while for overnight, temperatures are likely to be mid to high-teens.
“The warmest areas would be Northland where temperature is expected to be 17-18C.
“For most places, temperatures are well warmer than average in the month of May. For central North Island and Eastern North Island, temperatures are 8C warmer than usual for this time of the year.”
