Weather: More rain instore for West Coast but Spring sun forecast for most

Although some areas of the country will feel like Spring, others will continue to be soaked by more rain this week as we begin September. Photo / Dean Purcell.

Although some areas of the country will feel like spring, others will continue to be soaked by more rain this week as we begin September, Met Service forecasts.

The high-pressure system that moved in over the weekend, bringing some much-needed settled weather to most of the country, will continue keeping a lot of New Zealand dry to begin the week and see out the final few days of winter.

However, MetService is forecasting a front to move slowly northwards over the South Island from late Wednesday, bringing more heavy rain to the West Coast.

More heavy rain for already sodden regions in the South Island later this week. Details in our latest news release here https://t.co/dxb8tukjRs ^SG pic.twitter.com/fuNxaY5QKx

— MetService (@MetService) August 29, 2022

Met service warns that an even greater concern are the heavy falls that are expected to hit Tasman, Nelson and Marlborough, which were severely impacted by the weather over the last few weeks and are only just beginning their extensive clean-up.

Heavy falls are forecast in the ranges from late Friday into Saturday for the regions.

"We could see over 300mm in the ranges of Westland later this week, and possibly 50 to 70mm in the ranges near Nelson and northern Marlborough. This amount of rain wouldn't normally cause too many problems in Nelson and Marlborough but because they have already had extreme amounts of rain recently it could lead to more slips," MetService Meteorologist Stephen Glassey warns.

Orange Heavy Rain Warnings and Watches are likely to be issued for the West Coast, Tasman, Nelson and Marlborough regions in the coming days, Met Service predicts.

High pressure means dry weather for most of the motu this work week.

Some exceptions:

-West of the South Island.
-Eastern Northland (Tue).
-West/lower North Island Friday. pic.twitter.com/EwEpOsDzHs

— NIWA Weather (@NiwaWeather) August 29, 2022

Other parts of the country will feel like spring as warmer north to northwest winds settle in ahead of the front.

This will be coupled with mostly fine weather as well as elsewhere, with the eastern South Island expected to stay mostly dry, forecasts Met Service, and the rain-bearing front is not expected to reach the North Island until the weekend.

Auckland will be generally fine throughout the week, with a few scattered showers around. Today is expected to be settled, apart from the odd shower north of Whangaparaoa and light southeasterly wind.