KEY POINTS:
It's been a long winter of storms and cold temperatures, but it's not over yet.
A band of very heavy showers is currently hitting the middle of the North Island, heading north.
Localised downbursts may cause surface and flash flooding, say the Weather Watch Centre.
"This downpour will add further stress to the Waikato River with heavy rain expected to move right through inland areas. Heavy downpours are likely to remain in these areas overnight", said TRN weather analyst Philip Duncan.
"In the past hour the Lightning Detector at weatherwatch.co.nz has recorded 732 strikes (bringing today's total to almost 9900) and that number is rising very quickly."
Duncan said the bulk of the thunderstorms are over Northland and off the coast from Auckland, Waikato and Waitomo.
Parts of the South Island remain blanketed in snow, as temperatures plummeted over the past 24 hours.
Meanwhile, the poor weather conditions have put a stop to the search for a party of six climbers trapped on Mt Cook.
It is thought the missing climbers are Australians.
Rescuers were alerted by an emergency locator beacon which was activated just after 10 last night.
Alpine Guides and Department of Conservation staff are on standby, but Mountain Safety Council spokesman Steve Schreiber says a vigorous storm that has brought snow and wind is preventing a helicopter flying them in.
Mountain Safety Council spokesman Steve Schreiber says the storm could hang around for two or three days. He says it is too dangerous to go in on foot because of the avalanche risk.
- NEWSTALK ZB, WEATHER WATCH CENTRE
