Heavy rain to lash upper North Island on Wednesday, with flooding on the cards

Tuesday, 14 July 2020

Conditions are starting to look good around the South Island's skifields.

Heavy rain and flooding could hit parts of the upper North Island throughout Wednesday and Thursday.

MetService has issued a heavy rain warning for Northland starting at 11am on Wednesday. A heavy rain watch is also in place for Auckland and Coromandel.

MetService meteorologist Lewis Ferris said this could cause flooding and dangerous driving conditions throughout the area and locals needed to be prepared.

Significant amounts of rain will hit Northland and parts of Auckland later in the week (file photo).

“We’ve issued a warning for Northland along with a heavy rain watch for Auckland and the Coromandel for Wednesday and Thursday.

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“Currently we’re seeing a lot of cloud in Auckland, with some wet weather sprinkled through the north.”

Ferris warned a “significant rain band” will hit Northland on Wednesday, with possible thunderstorms.

The greatest risk is to the eastern side of Northland, with 100mm of rain expected in a 24-hour period.

“This isn’t an unusual amount of rain, but it is definitely quite a downpour,” Ferris said.

The main concern for Auckland will be heavy winds overnight, beginning about 9pm on Wednesday.

At this stage there was no indication of any more tornados, like parts of Auckland saw at the end of June.

Areas of east Auckland will experience the worst of Wednesday’s weather but most places in Auckland would be wet, Ferris said.

Unfortunately, Aucklanders can’t look forward to a sunnier weekend, as more wet weather was forecasted, Ferris said.

“There will be more rain for all the North island over the weekend. An easing trend will only begin on Sunday.”

Temperatures in Auckland would be “above average” over the next week, Ferris said.

“You can expect it to be wet and muggy.”

In relation to Auckland’s current dam levels, Ferris said the downpour would be “good news” and make some difference, but would still not be enough to make a significant difference.

Currently, Auckland’s water supply dams are 23 per cent below normal, at 57.7 per cent, after the driest first-half year on record.

About 40 per cent of the city’s needs is now being piped from the Waikato River, and $224 million of short-term infrastructure is being built to bring on additional sources over the next year.