After a week of wet weather, the North Island is once again being urged to brace for heavy rain as a new system rolls in.
Photo: Unsplash / Erik Witsoe
MetService has put in place severe weather warnings for many places in the North Island from Northland down to Gisborne for Thursday and Friday.
A band of rain is forecast to make its way down the north of the country bringing potential for surface flooding and slips.
MetService meteorologist John Law said areas could be more likely to see surface flooding where the land is already inundated from rain earlier this week.
"Once again we are set to see an area of low pressure arriving from the north and this will be bringing more rain and strong winds to places like Northland, Auckland and across to the Coromandel and the Bay of Plenty. Many of these areas have already recorded more than their average July rainfall this month.
"The good news, however, is that this system will move through swiftly and will not impact as large an area as the systems we saw earlier in the week but sodden areas could be in for more slips and readily pooling water," Law said.
The nasty weather is expected to ease this weekend, providing some calmer conditions after a period of intense weather events.
Meanwhile, much of the South Island is forecast to see settled weather and cooler temperatures brought on by a south-westerly feed of air.
"There will still be some showers about, especially in the west of the North Island and in the Far South, but there should be plenty of dry weather in store this weekend. The exception being the West Coast of the South Island, which is likely to see another round of rain from Sunday," Law said.
With many parents busy planning outdoor activities for the second week of the school holidays next week, Law encouraged parents in the North Island to head outside earlier in the week to take advantage of the sunshine.
Those in the South Island would be better off focusing their outdoor activities in the second half of the week, he said.