Cool temperatures will persist on Monday, with mostly cloudy skies and isolated light showers. Photo / Jason Oxenham
Periods of heavy rain and thunderstorms are expected to continue for northern parts of the North Island today, so dress warm and remember your umbrella.
The heaviest falls are expected about Coromandel Peninsula and Bay of Plenty west of Te Puke from this afternoon to Tuesday evening, and a heavy rain watch is in force for these regions.
Chilly temperatures will grab weather headlines Monday.
To put in prospective, below are average July max temps for select cities:
Thames Coromandel District Council civil defence controller Garry Towler is warning residents to be prepared and monitor the weather closely in the next 24 hours.
"Make sure you are organised, check NZTA's website before you travel and take care on our roads as this may cause streams and rivers to rise rapidly, therefore surface flooding and slips are possible and driving conditions may be hazardous."
Rotorua and Whakatāne can expect periods of heavy rain today and tomorrow, easing to a few showers.
This morning there is a moderate risk of thunderstorms from Northland to Waikato, with a low risk extending to north Taranaki, Taumarunui, and western Bay of Plenty.
Thunderstorms are likely to be accompanied by heavy rain of up to 15mm per hour and small hail.
For the remainder of the country, it's expected the cool temperatures will persist, with mostly cloudy skies and isolated light showers in the east, while western places should remain mainly fine.
WeatherWatch's daily report said Wellington, Wairarapa and Kāpiti were looking fairly cloudy, and there could be a light shower or two about, otherwise it would be mainly dry.
Snow is expected about the Central Plateau and the ranges of Gisborne down to 800m, and down to 500m about the ranges of Hawke's Bay.
For Nelson, Marlborough and Canterbury conditions are quite cloudy and cold with east to southeasterly winds.
There may be a drizzle patch or light shower at times north of about Banks Peninsula through to Marlborough in the east.
Any light showers bring the chance of a few snowflakes down to 300 or 200m but because of minimal precipitation levels there's little chance of accumulations.
For the West Coast and Southland, conditions are mainly sunny. Central Otago has a mix of sun and cloud and coastal Otago has cloudy periods and mainly dry weather with northeasterly breezes.
Temperatures across most of the lower North Island will be in the high single figure or low double figure arena. Temperatures reach the mid teens for Auckland and Northland.
Highs will range from a low 5C about inland parts of the South Island through to 10C for some coastal parts of Canterbury.
Later this week, MetService predicts the front to move away to the northeast, but another front is then expected to move on to the southwest of the South Island Thursday night, then continue moving northeast on to the North Island later Friday.
On Thursday and Friday, there is low confidence of warning amounts of rain falling in Fiordland, and in Westland and Buller.
In addition, west to northwesterly winds may rise to severe gale in exposed parts of the Canterbury High Country, Southern Lakes and Southland on Friday.
Today's forecast
Whangārei: Fine spells and showers, some possibly heavy and thundery. Northwesterlies. High 18C / Low 11C.
Auckland: Fine spells between periods of rain, heavy and thundery at times. Northerlies. High 16C / Low 11C.
Tauranga: Periods of rain, possibly heavy and thundery from afternoon. Southeasterlies. High 14C / Low 7C.
Hamilton: Occasional rain, chance heavy and thundery. Northeasterlies. High 13C / Low 6C.
New Plymouth: Cloudy, with rain at times. Southeasterlies. High 12C / Low 6C.