Most of the country is in for a particularly wet and windy Friday, with heavy rain warnings spread across the North and South Islands.
“It’s going to be a bit gnarly out there,” said MetService meteorologist April Clark.
There are two active fronts pushing their way up New Zealand today, with forecasters saying the poor weather should be clearing the top of the North Island by tomorrow morning.
A high-pressure system following behind is expected to bring more settled weather in its wake.
The fronts are bringing heavy rain and strong winds up from the South Island today, with orange rain warnings in place for Fiordland, Westland, the headwaters of some of Canterbury’s lakes and rivers, the Tararua ranges, Mount Taranaki and eastern parts of the Bay of Plenty.
“As we go through the day that will be affecting the whole of the country.”
There are also orange wind warnings for Canterbury High Country, and multiple rain and wind watches for other parts of the country.
Clark said there is a risk of thunderstorms in many parts of the country too, which could bring downpours of more than 25mm of rain in some places.
MetService’s website classifies rainfall of more than 25mm per hour as “torrential”.
“Even if you’re hardy and don’t mind a bit of rain, you want to try and avoid doing your dog walk then.”
The thunderstorms could bring lightning, and rivers and streams could rise rapidly, she said.
Surface flooding on the roads was also a risk.
Meanwhile, the parts of New Zealand under heavy rain warnings could expect between 130 and 200mm of rain over the course of the bad weather.
“Those accumulations there are going to build up,” Clark said.
“Everybody is going to be seeing periods of rain - just how heavy it is and how prolonged it will be depends on where you are.”
The gusty winds in Wellington have disrupted some ferry sailings and flights as well, but the strong wind warning for the region has now been lifted.
The weather is easing behind the fronts and should be mostly settled by Saturday morning - welcome news for those attending Womad in New Plymouth or Homegrown in Wellington.
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