A red heavy rain warning is already in effect for Northland and MetService reports that the region could see up to 170mm of rain in the north and east.
A red heavy rain warning is also in place for Auckland north of Orewa from 5pm through to 8am tomorrow and for the Coromandel Peninsula from 10pm tonight through to 3pm tomorrow.
“We’re still looking at [getting] pretty high amounts of rainfall, but it’s obviously on top of what we’ve already seen which is why we have gone for those red warnings,” Law said.
There is also an orange heavy rain warning in place for all areas of Auckland south of Orewa from 8pm tonight until 10am tomorrow.
Areas north of Orewa can expect to get up to 140mm of rain about the ranges, with lesser amounts about the coast, while all other areas of Auckland could see up to 80mm.
Localised areas may see downpours of 25 to 40mm/h.
On top of these warnings is a strong wind watch for the city from 6pm to 6am tomorrow.
Auckland Emergency Management (AEM) is warning that the Auckland Harbour Bridge may be closed for some time as a result.
It is also urging people to keep an eye on regular updates via social media channels and information from authorities.
Extra Fire and Emergency New Zealand reinforcements have been brought into the region in preparation for tonight’s bad weather.
Schools and all learning facilities have closed for the week in Auckland and mayor Wayne Brown has urged residents to “stay home” wherever possible as the new system threatens to bring rainfall similar to the deadly deluge on Friday.
A strong wind watch is also already in effect for Northland and a severe thunderstorm watch will come into effect for the region from midday through to 4am tomorrow.
MetService said the thunderstorms will bring localised downpours of 25 to 40 mm/h or possibly more, cause surface and flash flooding, especially around low-lying areas such as streams, rivers or narrow valleys, and may also lead to slips.
It is warning motorists that driving conditions will be hazardous.
MetService has also issued a number of warnings and watches for regions on Wednesday.
Heavy rain warnings are in place for Bay of Plenty west and east of Whakatāne and Gisborne north of Ruatoria.
A heavy rain watch is in place for Waikato from 2am tomorrow until 3pm and around Mt Taranaki from 6am tomorrow until 2am on Thursday.
Law said better weather is on the cards for Auckland from the weekend.
“For the northern parts of the country it does look like the weather improves once we head through towards Saturday and onwards but to get there we have got some fairly unsettled conditions with more heavy rainfall to come as we go through today, Wednesday and Thursday.”
Towards the end of the week, Law said the heavy rain will be pushed down towards the west coast of the South Island.
