School holiday traffic alert as heavy rain moves up South Island

Rain is on the way for much of the North Island potentially impacting travellers heading home after the school holidays. Photo / Windy.com

Travellers heading home this weekend after the school holidays may face wet roads as a series of fronts moves up the country.

MetService meteorologist Lewis Ferris said “our next bout of fronts” will arrive from the southwest tomorrow making its way up the South Island.

“That’s forecast to bring heavy rain along the West Coast, where a number of heavy rain warnings are in force with strong northwesterly winds over parts of the Southern Alps,” Ferris said.

The system will gradually track north, bringing a “pretty wet” day for much of the North Island on Saturday, “so people travelling will just need to factor that in”, he added.

“If people are travelling on Sunday, they’ll need to keep an eye on the forecast, because we might still have some rain around.”

Outlook for main centres

Auckland is forecast to drop to about 14C tonight, slightly warmer than the April average.

Tomorrow will see some cloud with isolated showers, expected to clear in the evening.

In the Waikato, including Hamilton, tomorrow morning should remain relatively settled, with cloud and the chance of a “few light showers or drizzle” before heavier rain arrives from around midday Saturday.

After a pleasant couple of days, Wellington will see “a bit more cloud move in tomorrow as northerly winds pick up heading into a day of rain on Saturday,” Ferris said.

Christchurch is in for a cool start with 2C expected tomorrow morning bringing frosty patches and light winds.

“Then we’ll see a bit more of a building northerly wind, probably getting a little bit gusty towards the end of the day,” Ferris said.

Parts of Central Otago may drop to around 2C overnight as well.

While recent cold snaps have delivered early snowfall to parts of the South Island high country, including 5-10cm on Coronet Peak last night, Ferris said the latest snow event appears to have passed for now.

“We’re getting into the time of the season where we will start seeing a few more of those turn up,” he said, “but not for the next little while.”

Orange heavy rain warning for West Coast

MetService has issued heavy rain warnings for much of the South Island’s West Coast with up to 150mm of rain expected.

An orange-level warning is in place for Buller and Grey from 4pm tomorrow until 9am on Saturday.

Thunderstorms are also possible for the region from tomorrow night.

The Westland ranges are forecast to receive 12 hours of rain from noon tomorrow.

Locals were advised to drive carefully, and to clear their drains and gutters to offset possible surface flooding.

A 12-hour period of rain is also forecast for the headwaters of Canterbury lakes and rivers about and south of Arthurs Pass from 1pm tomorrow.

Thunderstorms are possible close to the Main Divide, according to MetService.

Those in the area were warned to avoid low-lying areas and to be wary of rapidly rising streams and rivers.

Several other South Island regions are under severe weather watches.