Winds have been strong too, with both Brothers and Stephens islands near the Cook Strait recording maximum gusts around 110km/h, and 84km/h in Wellington.
On Friday snow showers were likely in the morning for Lewis Pass (SH7) and Porters Pass (SH73) in the South Island, with road snowfall warnings in place.
MetService meteorologist Andrew James said driving this severe weather was a low pressure system sitting in the Tasman Sea.
The low pressure and rain would move northward over the coming days as a ridge established itself over southern and central New Zealand, leading to more settled weather over the weekend and early next week.
READ MORE:
• Climate change: New Zealand emissions barely budge, transport emissions cuts urged
• Climate change costs NZ in droughts, floods - Victoria University, NIWA
• Climate change: New Zealand's Paris Agreement greenhouse gas emissions targets to be reviewed
• The Conversation: Climate change could cause abrupt biodiversity losses this century
Auckland on Friday was in for a relatively fine morning, with just some showers from late afternoon and the evening.
Heavy rain warnings were in place for Bay of Plenty east of Whakatāne and the ranges of Gisborne to 6am Saturday, with another 80 to 120mm of rain expected, mainly near East Cape.
Coastal Marlborough and Canterbury north of Waipara were also under a heavy rain warning to 7pm today, with another 40 to 70mm of rain expected.
The low lying to the west of Northland is expected to move slowly eastwards during Saturday and Sunday, with associated fronts affecting central and northern New Zealand.
Strong east to southeast winds are expected about central parts of the country during this period, with areas of rain affecting many parts of the North Island and the upper South Island.
Auckland was in for a mostly fine weekend, with a few showers on Saturday, and potential rain in eastern areas on Sunday.
A ridge is expected to spread over much of the country from the south on Monday, and persist on Tuesday.
There is moderate confidence of heavy rain about Coromandel Peninsula, Bay of Plenty and northern Gisborne on Saturday, and the confidence reduces to low on Sunday.
On Sunday, there is also low confidence of heavy rain about the remainder of Gisborne and Hawke's Bay, especially about the ranges.