Weather: Heavy rain easing for North Island as low pressure system moves east

A burst of heavy rain across the North Island overnight, less than a week after some areas saw a month’s worth of rain in a few days, has now eased.

MetService meteorologist Alwyn Bakker told the Herald yesterday that a low-pressure system was roaring out of the Tasman Sea and expected to sweep across the North Island last night.

“Heavy rain and possibly thunderstorms and localised downpours were forecast,” he said.

Heavy rain and strong winds sweep over the upper North Island overnight and Monday morning.

Heavy Rain Watch: Waikato, Waitomo, Taumarunui, and Taupō 1am-8am Monday.

Outside the Watch area, there could still be impacts from brief bursts of very heavy rain on saturated ground. pic.twitter.com/DXI6EMm1Eo

— MetService NZ (@MetService) March 29, 2026

This morning the low-pressure system moved east away from the North Island.

All heavy rain watches previously in place for Waikato, Waitomo, Taumarunui and Taupō have now been lifted.

Bakker said heavy rain was classified as 6mm/h, while localised downpours can be 25-35mm/h.

“That’s torrential rain, but they tend to only happen for brief periods at a time,” he said.

“It will be 10 minutes of absolute hammering and then not so bad for the rest of the hour.”

Niwa Weather predicted the worst of the rain would have eased for Auckland by this morning.

A band of heavy rain with embedded thunderstorms will move across the North Island tonight. In Auckland, the heaviest rain is expected overnight, easing around the morning commute.

For Hawke’s Bay and Gisborne, the rain arrive later, with conditions clearing by midday. pic.twitter.com/dw7Hl2rqJ1

— NIWA Weather (@NiwaWeather) March 29, 2026

“For Hawke’s Bay and Gisborne, the rain arrives later, with conditions clearing by midday.”

This comes after a week of extreme downpours and strong winds that wreaked havoc across the country, causing evacuations and leaving thousands without power.

Areas like Kaitāia and Kerikeri recorded more than one month’s rainfall in just a few days.

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