Rain is on its way but it's set to clear up in time for the weekend.
MetService meteorologist Daniel Corbett said the slow-moving weather system would finally come to town after loitering out to the west of New Zealand for the past couple of days.
"The past couple of days have seen a bit more cloud and some patchy rain but the next couple of days will definitely be the raincoat days of the weeks,'' he said.
"The big high from the past weekend has been slow to clear away so it kept the rain band with the next weather system out the west. It was a bit like waiting for a car park space to appear in a car park.''
Mr Corbett said a new low from the north would slide into the game during Thursday and bring outbreaks of rain which could be heavy in places.
A brisk easterly wind will also develop during Thursday, he said.
The rain will spread in across Northland during Thursday afternoon and will reach Auckland and the Bay of Plenty on Thursday evening.
"The area of rain will slowly become more showery during the day on Friday and drier weather will move back in on Saturday,'' Mr Corbett said.
On Sunday, the day should be mostly dry with a westerly breeze.