Northland, Auckland and Coromandel are forecast to remain mostly cloudy through Sunday. (file image) Photo: RNZ / Marika Khabazi
Many parts of the country are set for a drop in temperatures, with rain forecast for Saturday.
Heavy rain that hit Fiordland has now cleared, but a severe thunderstorm watch remains in force for Hawke's Bay from 6pm until midnight.
While the risk of downpours drops overnight, thunderstorms and localised heavy rain were still possible in the region again on Saturday, MetService said.
Meteorologist Mmathapelo Makgabutlane told Morning Report temperatures would drop into the 10 degrees range for many parts of the country, starting with heavy rain on Friday.
"We are expecting that cold front to move up the country today, Friday, and into Saturday, but it does move away quickly," she said.
This would mean "a little bit cooler temperatures - I probably won't say cold, but I guess at this time of year those mid-10 and late-10 temperatures do feel a little bit cold - so that will be in the South Island and the lower part of the North Island," she said.
"By Sunday, we should already start seeing things starting to clear up, brighten up, so it should be a lovely settled end to the weekend."
Listen to MetService's Mmathapelo Makgabutlane speak on the forecast here
However, Northland, Auckland and Coromandel would remain mostly cloudy through Sunday.
The rain was set to touch most places between Friday and Saturday, mostly in the northern North Island, with thunderstorms forecast for the Bay of Plenty, Eastern Gisborne, and parts of Hawke's Bay on Friday afternoon.
They were not looking likely to reach warning-level, but Makgabutlane said they could cause localised downpours of heavy rain.
Mayor welcomes 'a real Tai Rāwhiti summer'
The dry spell was also good news for the huge amount of road repairs underway throughout the region. (file image) Photo: Kate Green / RNZ
A warm, dry start to 2024 has been welcomed with open arms by the mayor of a region battered by bad weather last year.
Gisborne Mayor Rehette Stoltz told RNZ's Summer Times she was happy to say haere rā to 2023, and instead focus on a big year of recovery.
"The sun is out, people are out and about, what we have experienced in the past couple of weeks is a real Tai Rāwhiti summer the way we know it," Stoltz said.
The dry spell was also good news for the huge amount of road repairs underway throughout the region.
Contractors had a well-deserved Christmas break after working non-stop for a year, and would be back on the tools next week, Stoltz said.
"While we have this dry weather it is [the] perfect time to fix up the roads.
"It was so tough during the last part of 2023 to fix roads, because the water tables were so unnaturally high that it was really difficult to do basic maintenance work."
Local businesses had also enjoyed fantastic support this summer, Stoltz said.
'It is lovely to see our local residents going out - Gisborne Mayor Rehette Stoltz
Gisborne Mayor Rehette Stoltz says businesses had a good attitude and were doing all they could to survive. Photo: RNZ / Tom Kitchin
While the rest of the country picked up the pieces after the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, Tai Rāwhiti dove straight into dealing with a series of extreme weather events.
But businesses had a good attitude and were doing all they could to survive - spurred on by locals, she said.
"I went into a shop yesterday and the lady said to me, she could see this Christmas that there was a concerted effort from locals to buy local gifts.
"So it is lovely to see our local residents going out, supporting our local businesses, to help them through this tough time."
The mayor was positive about the region's relationship with the new government, acknowledging them for making the effort to visit before Christmas and understanding what needed to be done.
"I'm very confident that they will walk alongside us to bring Tai Rāwhiti back to the beautiful place it is."