24 December 2012

Evan and Christmas Day

MetService maintains a Severe Weather Warning for Northland, where 25-50 mm rain has fallen since yesterday. Between noon and 9pm today, another 50-80 mm is expected. "If you're in Northland, please stay up-to-date with any advice from Northland Regional Council and Far North District Council about local conditions, and what the New Zealand Transport Agency is saying about local roads," commented MetService Chief Forecaster Peter Kreft.

"While rain continues in Coromandel and northern Auckland, we've downgraded these areas to a Severe Weather Watch," added Kreft. "At this point, expected rainfall totals are not large enough to warrant a Warning.The north of the Gisborne district is still on Watch for rainfall too."

There is a lot of low cloud and sea fog along the east coast from East Cape to Cook Strait to Canterbury and out to the Chatham Islands. This is unlikely to clear completely until a change in the winds blows it away on Christmas Day.

Both today and on Christmas Day, afternoon and evening showers and thunderstorms - mostly inland - are part of the weather picture. "Today,the target area extends from Waikato to the central North Island high country to northern Manawatu and across to Taranaki," said Kreft. "On Christmas Day, the action is expected to be further south - from Taranaki through to Wellington and Wairarapa, and Buller, Nelson, Marlborough and north Canterbury."

"If you live on the West Coast of the South Island, Otago or Southland,you can expect the weather on Christmas Day to be fine or becoming so. Those North Island places which aren't dodging rain or afternoon showers should also enjoy fine, but muggy, weather," Kreft went on to say.

Keep up to date with the latest forecasts and any watches/warnings at metservice.com or on mobile devices at m.metservice.com. You can also follow our updates on MetService TV, @metservice on Twitter and at blog. metservice.com.

ENDS

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