Covering period of Mon 23rd - Friday 27th March

• Low of tropical origin brings heavy rain, strong winds and large waves from Wednesday
• Heavy Rain and Strong Wind Watches for Northland (Wednesday-Friday)

Heavy rain, strong winds and large waves are forecast through the second half of this week as a low from the tropics is expected to track southwards into the Tasman Sea on Wednesday.

Heavy rain and strengthening northeasterly winds are expected to arrive in the north of the North Island on Wednesday, before gradually spreading over the entire country through Thursday and Friday. Northeast winds will rise to gale in some of the most exposed parts of northern New Zealand and the eastern coast.

MetService have issued Yellow Heavy Rain and Strong Wind Watches for Northland from Wednesday through to Friday, with a moderate chance of upgrading to Orange Warnings. Further Watches and Warnings for other areas are likely in the coming days.

MetService meteorologist Alanna Burrows says, “This upcoming weather event is long lasting with the Yellow Heavy Rain Watch for Northland spanning several days. With some settled weather and time on your side beforehand, perhaps you could check in with your neighbours as well as prepare your property by securing items that can be picked up by strong winds.”

In addition to these weather elements, mariners will also be impacted by large waves. Moderate to heavy northerly swell expected for the northeast coast of North Island from Wednesday with swell waves over 4 metres possible for Northland. Heavy swell also expected to for much of the South Island through Friday, with swell waves possibly exceeding 6 metres for the western Coastal regions.

“These are quite unusual waves for the country” says Burrows “Our northeastern coastlines are normally sheltered from our prevailing westerly swells. This event is very different with moderate to heavy northerly swell impacting large areas of the coast including some regions that are usually quite well protected.”

Find our latest warnings at www.metservice.com/warnings.

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