New Zealand's dry spell is set to get bigger and drier as high pressure continues to hold the rain clouds at sea for most regions.
Over the next several days over 150mm of rain is forecast to fall over the Tasman Sea, this is the biggest concentration of rain over that area so far this year - but high pressure stuck over NZ may well keep the bulk of it offshore.
There are a couple of exceptions, with scattered heavy showers and a few thunderstorms forecast over the central North Island this afternoon and evening.
This includes northern Manawatu, inland Whanganui, and inland Bay of Plenty east of Rotorua this afternoon and evening, and from Waikato and Bay of Plenty to the Manawatu Gorge.
Heavy rain expected for the West coast of the South Island tomorrow with Westland currently lying in a Heavy Rain Warning area from tomorrow into Saturday. More details in the link below. ^KL https://t.co/9TakoCoiWo
Any thunderstorms that develop will be accompanied by localised heavy rain, and as the storms will be slow-moving there is a low risk some of the storms could become severe, producing localised downpours and flash flooding about low-lying areas, Metservice said.
The West Coast of the South Island also has a heavy rain warning in place from 6am tomorrow to 6am Saturday.
The Metservice warning says to expect 150 to 200mm of rain to accumulate about the ranges, with 80 to 110mm nearer the coast south of Hokitika.
Rain is expected to ease over the South Island on Sunday as the front moves northwards, but may re-intensify on Monday as a low moves eastwards.
There may be a few more showers around the lower North Island too - but this is also a hit and miss.
A potential tropical cyclone is hugging the coast near Cairns next Saturday. Photo / WeatherWatch
However, our friends over the ditch are in for a much different scenario, with a tropical cyclone forecast to develop in the days ahead and likely impact Queensland, Australia next week.
Northern Queensland is already saturated, in particular around Townsville, which has received phenomenal rainfall already this year causing floods, WeatherWatch said.
The area is forecast for another potential 100 to 200mm.
While the risk of a cyclone forming soon is deemed as high, WeatherWatch said it's unlikely this storm will come to NZ - but it will be monitoring it closely.
WeatherWatch.co.nz said there was a only a 15 per cent chance of a tropical storm impacting NZ over the next week or so.
Despite other areas of low pressure forming north of NZ and around the Tasman Sea, the stream of high pressure looks set to continue for the rest of the month - meaning things will get drier, before they get wetter again.
