High Impact Rain Event This Week

A deepening low is going to move over New Zealand mid-week, containing loads of tropical moisture left over from the remnants of Cyclone Debbie. Heavy rain and strong winds are expected in many areas, especially from Tuesday to Thursday.

The highest rainfall accumulations are likely to be in the central and lower North Island and the upper South Island, but everywhere has the potential to see heavy rain at some point.

“This system will impact almost the entire country,” said Metservice Meteorologist Stephen Glassey. “The upper North Island which is still sodden from recent heavy rain events in March, is likely to see more heavy downpours on Wednesday, but they will get rain at other times too.”

“Strong winds are also expected in most places, but it is important to note that this weather system bears very little resemblance to a tropical cyclone other than the fact that it contains loads of tropical moisture that brings with it the potential for heavy rain,” added Glassey.

Conditions around the country are expected to gradually deteriorate over the next few days. The very humid air moving onto the country is likely to bring extensive low cloud or fog to the upper North Island overnight Sunday and Monday morning. Meanwhile, rain is expected to become persistent about the lower North Island on Monday, before the heaviest falls arrive on Tuesday.

There will certainly be severe weather warnings issued over the next few days so people should keep themselves updated with the latest forecasts at metservice.com. All severe weather information including warnings, watches, and thunderstorm outlooks can be found at this link http://info.metraweather.com/e/60812/warnings-home/clvrzv/519557543.

The light at the end of the tunnel is that after the low pulls away to east of New Zealand on Friday, there is a big ridge of high pressure moving onto the country which should bring fine weather to most places next weekend.

Official Severe Weather Watches and Warnings are reviewed and re-issued by MetService at least every twelve hours, and more often if necessary. To get the most up to date information on severe weather around the country, or any other forecasts, see metservice.com or on mobile devices at m.metservice.com. You can also follow our updates on MetService TV, at MetService New Zealand on Facebook, @metservice and @MetServiceWARN on Twitter and at blog.metservice.com

© Scoop Media