Surface flooding has been reported in Taranaki, Northland, and Bay of Plenty as MetService says already-saturated parts of the country will continue to get significant amounts of rain throughout the next few days.
Yesterday, the forecaster said red warnings were possible as the atmospheric river continued to intensely shower parts of both islands.
Heavy rain in the North Island is forecasted to ease from Friday morning when the focus of the heavy rainfall then turns to the upper South Island, MetService said.
Northland, Waitomo, Taranaki, Horowhenua, Kapiti, and Wellington are currently under orange heavy rain warnings.
Tasman, Nelson and Marlborough come under the warning from tonight.
MetService meteorologist Andrew James said surface flooding was likely in parts due to the already-sodden ground.
"This large amount of rain falling on the already-sodden ground has seen surface flooding in Taranaki, Bay of Plenty and Northland, and other areas are likely to see the same, along with slips," he said in a media release.
"The system is slow moving because a large high-pressure system to the east stops the subtropical rainband from moving on.
"Rain sticks around through the weekend and into early next week but snakes back and forth over the western parts of both islands, so the heaviest rain comes and goes."
1News meteorologist Dan Corbett explained the current impact of the atmospheric river yesterday: "This is not just plain old rain. Tropical rain is like a firehose. It's in one place for a long period of time, it rains more heavily, and it just dumps."
For the when and the where, 1News meteorologist Dan Corbett has the details. (Source: 1News)
MetService said that Nelson and northern Marlborough come under an orange heavy rain warning tonight as the front sinks south.
An extremely large amount of rain is forecast for the western Tasman Ranges, with 350-450mm of rain predicted in a 42-hour period up to midnight Saturday.
"These areas have seen a lot of rain recently. Further rain could cause significant impacts — think rising rivers, slips and surface flooding, and people are urged to stay up to date in case these warnings are upgraded," James said.
The tropical air delivering all this rain also brings warm and humid conditions, with much of the country experiencing unusually warm May temperatures. Several spots across the motu have even had their warmest May temperatures on record, MetService said.
These include Auckland, Hamilton, Whanganui and Queenstown, while Wellington Airport recorded its second warmest minimum temperature for May with 17.6C on Wednesday.
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