Heavy Rain Watches For Eastern North Island This Weekend

MetService continues to forecast some cold overnight temperatures for the next few days. A mostly fine weekend is in store for most of the country, however Heavy Rain Watches are in place for Hawke's Bay and Gisborne.

MetService is monitoring a low-pressure system which is sitting to the country's northeast and currently bringing a few showers to the eastern North Island. This system is expected to track southwards over Te Ika-a-Māui/North Island this weekend and bring heavy rain to Gisborne/Tairawhiti and Hawke's Bay. Heavy Rain Watches are in place for those areas already, starting early Saturday morning through to Sunday morning.

MetService meteorologist Andrew James says, “Tairawhiti/Gisborne and Hawke's Bay are both still in recovery mode, so this spell of heavy rain could cause issues. There’s still a bit to happen before the weekend and we will update/upgrade those watches as the event unfolds, so stay current with severe weather information from our team at MetService.”

A front down south also brings some rain to Fiordland over the weekend, but other areas of Aotearoa/New Zealand are in for a sunny couple of days – you will need your winter woollies though as temperatures remain chilly.

A high pressure brought clear skies over Te Waipounamu/South Island this week so there was no ‘cloud blanket’ to keep the country warm overnight, and this certainly dipped the mercury there during the last few nights. MetService recorded -6.3°C at Dunedin Airport on Thursday morning while Wanaka spent the last three days at or below 5°C, under a layer of cloud that prevented the sun warming the town.

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