MetService meteorologist Lewis Ferris says the high pressure will slide northward tomorrow, bringing more fine, dry weather to the North Island.
“The North Island is in for a mostly dry and settled weekend, as the band of rain isn’t forecast to reach there before Tuesday,” said Ferris.
The dry, sunny forecast is welcomed by concert-goers in Hawke’s Bay heading along to Robbie Williams tonight and tomorrow after heavy rain drenched the region on Tuesday night and early Wednesday.
Local street flooding and slips affected areas in Wairoa, Mahia, Nūhaka and Frasertown. Many of these places continue to recover from the effects of Cyclone Gabrielle in February.
About 100-150mm of rain fell over 12-24 hours, according to Niwa.
Williams will be performing two shows over as many nights at the Mission Estate Winery in Napier.
Ferris says temperatures in Napier are forecast to reach 24C on Sunday.
It will be a similar story for Sam Smith fans making their way to Auckland’s Spark Arena where they will perform at 7pm tonight.
Niwa warns of ‘active jetstream’ from next week
While much of the country experiences a short reprieve from wet and windy weather this weekend, Niwa has warned of “an active jetstream” returning to New Zealand next week, particularly the South Island.
“Strong westerly winds will likely be felt across the country like those experienced earlier in spring, typical of El Nino,” Niwa said.
It is likely to bring rain and wind to the west and warmer conditions to the north and east.
The first effect will be seen from tomorrow, with MetService issuing an orange heavy rain warning for Fiordland, which will come into effect from 8am and remain until Monday afternoon.
Between 220 to 300mm of rain is expected, with the largest amounts about the fiords and peak rates will see 15 to 25 mm/h of rainfall.
Meanwhile, Fiordland, Southland, Stewart Island and Clutha are warned of strong northwest winds from the early hours of tomorrow, which will likely remain throughout the day.