Filled To The Brim With Heavy Rain
We're in the thick of it again today (Thursday), with a slew of Heavy Rain Warnings and Watches, Severe Thunderstorm Watches, Strong Wind Watches, and a Heavy Snow Watch. The hits just keep coming with these quick moving systems, it's giving us weather whiplash.
In amongst the widespread rain, the top half of the North Island is on the lookout for downpours with Severe Thunderstorm Watches from this afternoon. Commute time in Auckland is looking busiest, so it's a good idea to head home earlier if you can.
MetService Meteorologist Katie Hillyer advises, 'The localised downpours are the real risk we are highlighting with the Severe Thunderstorm Watches; people shouldn't be fooled by the lack of thunder and lightning. It's a good time for people to turn on notifications in the app for any Severe Thunderstorm Warnings that may be issued for their area'.
Damaging winds are also possible for Northland and Auckland, with a background of strong winds as per the Strong Wind Watches, combined with the potential of gusts between 90-110km/hr in any Severe Thunderstorms. As the heavy rain band moves off, these areas are not completely out of the woods, with heavy showers and possible thunderstorms and hail on Friday and Saturday. It will take until Sunday and into Monday for these areas to get some settled weather, even if it's not for as long as we're hoping.
Heavy Rain Watches have also been issued for the Wellington and Kapiti regions for this afternoon and evening.
Rain is setting in the Tasman, Nelson and Marlborough regions as they are under their Heavy Rain Warnings until 7pm today. 'While accumulations are not as high as last week, the saturated starting conditions will play a huge part in the impacts we will see, so it is important to not get caught comparing numbers to last week', says Hillyer. 'We advise on the weather, but local emergency management services and councils know their areas best, so people are encouraged to also pay close attention to their messaging and advice', she continues. After this rainband moves off today, showers, some possibly heavy, continue into Friday and early Saturday before settled weather pushes in.
A different flavour in the south of the country, with a Heavy Snow Watch for Southern Canterbury High Country, Queenstown Lakes District, and Central Otago where down to 600 metres, snow may approach Warning criteria, but those down to 400 metres may get a fresh dusting today. Many road passes have the risk of snow settling, so travellers should keep up with messages from NZTA Waka Kotahi. Dunedin and North Otago are also under a Heavy Rain Watch from 3pm-3am, before gradually settling into the weekend.
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