“Heavy rain may cause streams and rivers to rise rapidly. Surface flooding and slips are also possible and driving conditions may be hazardous.”
Tairāwhiti Civil Defence urged residents to keep up to date with road conditions heading north on SH2 and south on SH35.
Southern Hawke’s Bay is also under a heavy rain warning, while the northern part of the region is under a heavy rain watch.
The weather alerts last through until 6pm tomorrow.
“100 to 130 mm of rain is expected about the ranges and eastern hills south of Hastings, and 50 to 80 mm elsewhere,” MetService said.
Despite the alerts, Hawke’s Bay Civil Defence doesn’t yet have concerns about the level of rainfall currently expected.
However, Central Hawke’s Bay river levels could rise by 1m-1.5m and residents are urged to be careful.
East Wellington and the Wairarapa, Tasman west of Mapua, East Marlborough and the Marlborough Sounds, Banks Peninsula and Dunedin and north Otago are all also under heavy rain watches.
For Aucklanders, the wintery skies mean a burst of heavy rain is due around 2pm as the city hits tops of 16C today and tomorrow with overnight lows of 10C.
Hamilton is set for 16C with evening rain today before hitting a high of 16C tomorrow with the odd shower.
Tauranga is also set for tops of 16C over the weekend with possible thunderstorms today and light showers tomorrow.
Wellington residents can expect a cold top of 12C with rain before Sunday brings more heavy rain and a high of 13C.
Christchurch is due for a top of 13C today and tomorrow with periods of rain.
Queenstown is mainly fine today with a high of 11C today and 9C tomorrow with Sunday’s overnight low dropping to -1C.
