Weather authorities are urging people in Northland to be prepared and to stay vigilant, as heavy rain is expected to hit the region from today.
There is also a possibility that significant rainfall - forecast for most of tomorrow as well - could carry on into Friday, MetService says.
Meteorologist Stephen Glassey said shortly before 7am that there were heavy blobs of rain offshore over the water east of Northland.
Those were expected to come on to Northland this morning, he said.
An atmospheric river as seen from above 🛰️.
— NIWA Weather (@NiwaWeather) May 2, 2023
This is the fuel for heavy rain that will impact parts of the motu. pic.twitter.com/ShxEopL2Oy
“We’re getting this slow-moving front setting up over western parts of the North Island; so there’s a chance that it could linger over parts of Northland later today and into tomorrow - and possibly Friday as well.
“So there is a significant risk of heavy rain in Northland in the coming days.”
A heavy rain watch is currently in place over Northland, effective for the 30 hours between 9am today and 3pm tomorrow.
That watch includes the possibility of thunderstorms and the risk of rainfall amounts approaching “warning criteria”.
The weather authority is due to post an update on warnings and watches at 10am.
“It’s possible that that watch may be upgraded to a warning or even the time period extended as well,” Glassey said.
“Some parts of Northland may get very heavy rain and some parts may not get anywhere near as much. It will be tricky to know where those places will be.
“But I’d say the highest risk will be probably those northern parts of Northland - north of Whangārei - anywhere in Northland is at risk,” he said.
“It will certainly pay to be vigilant. With this weather system, it’s bringing down a lot of warm, moist tropical air from the north. So it does have the potential to deliver a lot of rain.”
Places like Northland, Taranaki and possibly even Wellington, Marlborough and Nelson look to be due to get the most rain as a result.
“The advice is definitely be to be vigilant and to keep up-to-date with the warnings.”
Tropical air continues to stream down over the country bringing more heavy rain to many areas already inundated earlier in the week.
The wild weather extends to the South Island with MetService warning of gales off the West Coast, and heavy rain that could lead to rapidly rising rivers and flooding.
Bay of Plenty, Taranaki and Tongariro National Park are also in line for up to 48 hours of rain, with deluges across the day.
Two schools were forced to close in the Eastern Bay of Plenty yesterday because of the conditions and one lane of State Highway 34 in the region was temporarily closed after a slip came down across the road. It is now open.
Buller is in for the long haul, with rain already falling and predicted to last 66 hours until early Friday.
MetService has warned rain is forecast to reintensify this morning.
As the subtropical low moved across the southern South Island yesterday, gale marine warnings are in place for Foveaux, Grey, Milford and Puysegur.
MetService yesterday said Auckland’s weather would start to pack up once more with showers and heavy downpours from today, after only a few days’ respite from the weekend’s downpours.
“For Auckland, Waikato, Waitomo, the central high country, Coromandel Peninsula, Bay of Plenty and the far north of Gisborne, there is moderate confidence of heavy rain on Wednesday and low confidence on Thursday,” MetService said.
The Bay of Plenty has already been hit hard by the band of heavy rain earlier this week, bringing down slips and a power pole that narrowly missed a motorcyclist.
Tauranga Airport recorded 33mm in the 24 hours to 3pm on Monday, with the heaviest rainfall totalling about 8.2mm and coming between 9am and 10am. The rain station at Te Puke recorded about 30mm in 24 hours with Coromandel receiving 81mm.
A large tree fell on State Highway 2 at Bethlehem, between Te Paeroa Rd and Wairoa Pa Rd. The northbound lane was temporarily blocked while the tree was cleared.
Powerco said that extra crews were on the ground ready to make repairs and restore power to customers in the region.