“We also have quite an active front moving onto the south of the South Island later in the day.”
In the North Island, Auckland, Northland, the Bay of Plenty, the Waikato and down to Taranaki will be wet from the afternoon, Baillie said.
“Central and eastern areas start pretty fine, but they will cloud over later in the day.”
On Friday, Baillie said it would be wet across most of the country when the two weather systems converge.
Heavy rain watches issued
A heavy rain watch is forecast to come into force for the Coromandel Peninsula from 9pm until 9am tomorrow.
Another heavy rain watch is in place for the Bay of Plenty, west of Kawerau, from 10pm until noon tomorrow.
The Tasman District, about and west of Motueka, is under the alert from 6am to 9pm tomorrow, and Buller District and the ranges of the Grey District are under the alert from 4am until 6pm tomorrow.
The ranges of the Westland District are also under the same watch from midnight until 3pm tomorrow, and Fiordland west of the Lakes from 9pm to 5am.
Baillie said strong easterly winds were still forecast for the upper North Island today.
“It will be a complicated situation during the next few days. Showers for most places, especially on Friday for the upper North Island and the west of the South Island.”
Sign up to The Daily H, a free newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
