Covering period of Monday 26th - Thursday 29th May

• Rain for North Island today (Monday)
• Settled weather spreading from the south today and Tuesday
• More rain arrives on Wednesday
• Frosty nights for the South Island, warmer for North Island

Rain that started in the South Island over the past weekend is continuing its northward trajectory today (Monday). This rain may be heavy at times.

MetService meteorologist Oscar Shiviti says, “A rain bearing front moved up the South Island on Sunday and Monday morning, bringing heavy rain and notable accumulations in places”.

Here are some rain accumulations for the 12 hours from 11pm Sunday evening to 11am Monday morning:
o Paradise Peak: 173.6mm
o Arthurs Pass: 119mm
o Westport: 76.8mm
o Nelson Creek: 45.8mm
o Hokitika: 42mm
o Nelson Airport: 40.8mm

Strong winds were also recorded within the past 12 hours, with gusts of:
o 113km/h at Mount Kaukau (7am)
o 107km/h at Remutaka Summit (3am)

The North Island will see a band of rain move over today; the risk of severe weather accompanies the rain, with heavier falls expected in places.

Shiviti warns, “Severe Weather Watches are in place for the North Island, with emphasis on the risk of heavier bursts of rainfall within the thunderstorm watch area extending from Northland, through Auckland and down to Taranaki. We advise people to check the MetService website for more information”.

As the rain moves north today, there is a clearance in the weather in the South Island, and sunnier skies expected. This settled weather should spread to the North Island by Tuesday, though showers may still occur in the west.

Shiviti continues, “We expect a disruption to the settled weather on Wednesday when another band of rain hits western parts of the country as a front arrives”. This rain event carries with it potentially severe weather; and brings a change in weather for the country to cloudier, wetter and windier for the rest of the work week and going into the weekend.

MetService warns that repeated heavy rain events may have impacts to some places in the west of both islands, and therefore we urge people to keep up to date with MetService forecasts and any safety advice from local authorities.

For the rest of the week some places in the South Island will have frosty nights, while overnight temperatures in the North Island will not be as cold.

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