Rain forecast every day through to next Wednesday

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

Bad news for East Coast residents who are fearful of the weather — this week’s outlook is for rain every day until the following Wednesday.

The latest rain is being delivered by a low which is expected to pass slowly from the west of the North Island to the Bay of Plenty side, but dragging a wet band of rain to follow, down from the sub-tropics.

A succession of advisory notices has been issued by MetService, and on Sunday night, by Tairāwhiti Civil Defence.

The cellphone posts from Civil Defence had two messages — one an Orange Heavy Rain Warning relating to May 28, and the other correctly giving the MetService advice about the current weather.

Since the rain started sweeping in on the East Cape area on Saturday night, locations in the highest ranges have had the largest falls.

Up to 2pm Monday, Raukumara Station had 174 millimetres in just over 24 hours, while Waikura Valley had over 140mm.

In the same period Ruatoria was soaked with 90mm, Te Puia with 82mm and Tokomaru Bay with 78mm.

Amounts of 40 to 60mm fell around Tolaga Bay, while the southern part of the Gisborne district had amounts up to 40mm.

MetService had a heavy rain watch in place for the district through to 6pm today, but its extended severe weather outlook offered no relief.

The official weather agency said a south-easterly flow would persist over the North Island and a rain band embedded within the flow would move south then on to the eastern North Island towards the end of the week.

Colder temperatures are forecast, with the days’ highs dropping to around 15 to 17 degrees, and overnight lows from 8 to 11 degrees.

Rain is expected every day from the southerly quarter from now until Wednesday, June 14.

MetService says there is low confidence that rainfall would reach warning criteria about Tairāwhiti/Gisborne and Hawke’s Bay on Thursday, but warns there is moderate confidence of warning amounts on Friday and Saturday.