The South looks set for a sunny end to the school holidays while much of the rest of the country is in for a soggy few days.
More muggy, stormy weather is in store for both islands on Friday and Saturday as the tropics continue to influence the country’s weather.
Niwa says the tropical disturbance is forecast to move southward from New Caledonia into New Zealand as early as Friday.
Although its exact track is uncertain, it is expected to bring heavy rain to flood-ravaged eastern and southern regions of the North Island and the west and north of the South Island.
It's better news for those in the South of the South Island, where a run of mostly sunny days is expected from Thursday to Sunday.
The sun will be accompanied by temperatures in the high teens for Dunedin and inland Otago, with 20degC possible on Sunday, MetService forecasts show.
A cold front is then predicted to drop temperatures in the South, and there is a likelihood of frosts going into next week.
It is currently wet in parts of the North Island, and Wellington, Wairarapa, Kapiti-Horowhenua and Tararua are already under a heavy rain warning with parts of the capital affected by flooding.
It’s expected to last for the rest of the day.
However, this won’t be the end of the wet weather - a fresh bout of rain and strong northeast winds is due to hit regions.
MetService meteorologist Jessie Owen said the low-pressure system originating in the tropics was expected to move southwards towards New Zealand over the next few days and lie just west of the country by Friday.
“The whole North Island looks set to get rain, starting late Friday and continuing through Saturday clearing early Sunday morning, then the weather on Sunday looks fairly benign,” Owens said.
The exact location of the heaviest rain is still uncertain but for the North Island it looked likely to be heaviest in western and central parts.
From Thursday to Saturday rainfall was expected to meet warning criteria for Mt Taranaki.
“We are also expecting strong northeasterly winds for the North Island associated with this low-pressure system,” Owens said.
For the upper South Island the rain was expected to begin earlier on Friday and start to clear out late Saturday. The heaviest falls for the South Island were likely to be in the west and north.
On Sunday a front would move on to the lower South Island in the second half of the day, bringing rain and colder southerlies to Fiordland and Southland, Owens said.
“In terms of how the weather will feel, wet and windy, but also muggy, as this system is coming from the tropics it is bringing warm, moist air with it so temperatures are expected to be above average for this time of year for the North Island and upper South Island.
“In particular the overnight minimum temperatures will be 5-7C warmer than average for April so it will be feeling quite sticky overnight,” Owens said.
On Sunday once the low-pressure system moves away temperatures are expected to return to average for April, Owens said.
- additional reporting ODT Online
