Wellington and Christchurch are also expecting mostly fine weekends with temperatures ranging from 11C to 14C.
However, MetService also warned the next nasty weather system was already on its way to New Zealand and was due to arrive before the weekend was up, bringing "with it a widespread risk of severe weather".
"Wind and rain will approach warning criteria for many parts of Aotearoa," it said.
That includes a moderate chance of very heavy falls along the West Coast of the South Island and Nelson as well as Taranaki in the North Island.
There was a lower risk of heavy falls across much of the rest of the country.
Strong winds and in some cases severe gales are also expected to buffet most of the country.
Forecaster WeatherWatch expects between 60mm and 150mm to dump on the Nelson region between Sunday and Tuesday.
The large weather system would bring gales to both the south coast of Australia and then into New Zealand, WeatherWatch said.
"The rough weather may impact flights in both nations (especially turbo-prop planes and smaller airports) with some highways impacted too," WeatherWatch's Philip Duncan said.
"In Nelson, more rain is coming from Sunday to Tuesday – which may lead to further pockets of flooding and slips, which may also impact highways."