Heavy rain warning for northern parts of Tairāwhiti

MetService issued an orange heavy rain warning, which covers 18 hours from 3pm on Wednesday to 9am Thursday. Image / MetService

Heavy rain over Tairāwhiti will not ease up over the next few days as MetService issues another severe weather warning for part of the region.

An orange heavy rain warning for Gisborne, north of Tokomaru Bay, was issued at 9am Tuesday and will cover a period of 18 hours from 3pm Wednesday to 9am Thursday.

MetService advised that 220 to 280mm of rain was expected, with peak rates of 25 to 35mm per hour.

MetService meteorologist Alwyn Bakker said the weather would be caused by a low moving in from the northwest.

“As we get closer to the event and those models resolve a bit more consistantly we will be able to pinpoint exactly where things are likely to be particularly bad.

“This is a pretty serious one, but it is not a red warning yet.”

There was a moderate chance of it upgrading to a red warning.

He said a moderate chance roughly translates to between 33% and 50%.

“So more likely not to, but watch this space. Regardless, it is still a heck of a lot of rain, so we recommend staying away from streams and rivers. Don’t drive if you don’t have to, and clear your drains and gutters if you haven’t already done that.”

For the rest of Tairāwhiti, while not reaching warning criteria, Bakker said it would be “pretty wet” with evening rain in Gisborne city on Wednesday.

“It is not as wet; the ranges are kind of keeping the worst of it off. Importantly, rivers that feed from that higher ground can still be potentially dangerous.

“[It will be] wet on Thursday, but getting nicer in the afternoon.”

A temperature high of 20C in Tairāwhiti was expected for Wednesday, 23C on Thursday and 26C on Friday.

“Minimums [Tuesday], Wednesday, Thursday are 16C, 17C, so it’s not going to get particularly cool compared to the highs, but it is not going to get amazingly warm either.

“On Saturday, we are getting back to a bit cooler for summer temperatures, 20 or 19C, because we have got a bit more wet weather showing up on Sunday.”