Heavy rain, gale-force winds and possible thunder moving down from the north

Monday, 14 October 2019

It's a wet, windy and wild start to the week for the top of the North Island. (File photo)

It's a wet and windy start to the week for many parts of the country, especially for those in the North Island.

Heavy rain, strong winds and possible thunderstorms are forecast for Northland on Monday, as a low-pressure system moves down the country.

Aucklanders were in for some potential downpours and gales on Monday and Tuesday, with winds possibly gusting up to 120kmh in exposed places.

MetService meteorologist Stephen Glassey said the northern and eastern parts of the North Island would be the wettest areas as the rain made its way down the country.

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Although it's going to be a wet few days for the North Island, temperatures weren't expected to drop and would be normal for this time of year, he said.

Auckland has a high of 16 degrees Celsius on Monday and an overnight low of 12C. On Tuesday, it'll be wet but feel relatively warm with a high of 19C.

Wellington's week is off to a good start with patches of fine weather and a high of 16C on Monday. But winds were expected to pick up overnight, turning into possible gales on Tuesday night.

Periods of heavy rain were also on the cards for the capital on Tuesday afternoon, with a high of 14C and a low of 10C.

Both Christchurch Dunedin were expected to miss out on the heavy rain, with days of patchy cloud, fine periods and just the odd shower forecast this week.

HEAVY RAIN, GALES ON WAY

The heaviest rain forecast would lash the top of the country with some particularly heavy downpours, and also the Coromandel Peninsula on Monday.

A heavy rain warning was in place for the Coromandel Peninsula from Monday evening through to late Tuesday night.

MetService predicts 100-140mmm of rain could fall abut the ranges, with 70-90mm nearer the coast.

A heavy rain watch and strong wind watch was in place for Northland from Monday afternoon to Tuesday morning. Winds may reach severe gales in exposed places.

Thunderstorms were also possible on Monday afternoon for the area.

Heavy rain wass also expected for Auckland - north of Whangaparaoa - and Great Barrier Island from 8pm Monday.

Bay of Plenty areas, especially to the west of Opotiki, would also see heavy rainfall between Monday evening and Tuesday evening.

Strong winds were also expected to hit Auckland, Great Barrier Island, and the Coromandel Peninsular, and gusts could reach severe gales of 120kmh in exposed places from Monday night.

Similar strong gales were expected to sweep across the Waikato - north of Tirau, and also in the west of the Bay of Plenty.

Glassey said it was likely some more weather watches would be added for Tuesday, for Gisborne, Hawke's Bay and other Bay of Plenty areas.

LOOKING AHEAD

By Wednesday, most of the bad weather would clear as the weather system moved off to the east, Glassey said.

But a different low pressure system was then expected to form and move over the South Island on Thursday, bringing rain to the west and southern areas.

Although the two different weather systems would affect different parts of the country, Glassey said it meant that 'everybody will cop some rain at some point'.

For the second half of the week, Auckland was forecast to have cloudy weather with some fine spells, and daily high temperatures ranging between 17C and 20C.

Wellington would have drizzly weather and patches of could, with daily temperatures ranging between 14C and 17C.

Christchurch would have daily highs ranging between 15C and 19C for the rest of the week, with sunshine and a high of 20C currently forecast for Saturday.

While Dunedin would have daily high temperatures ranging between 14C and 15C, with Sunday looking like warmest and sunniest day with a high of 19C.