Warnings and watches have been issued as two slow-moving fronts stall over the South Island, bringing heavy rain and possible strong winds to parts of the country over the next two days.
MetService meteorologist Silvia Martino says the collision of two fronts, one from the north and one from the south, has caused them to become "stuck" over Canterbury and Westland.
"This front is moving slower and slower up the West Coast, it's not making a lot of progress, so we've got this rain sticking around Westland for the rest of the day," Martino said.
The northern front moving across the upper North Island was currently bringing rain to eastern parts of the Bay of Plenty and was forecast to spread across most of Northland, Auckland, the Coromandel Peninsula, Waikato, Taranaki, and the rest of the Bay of Plenty.
"Upper parts of the North Island are almost all on watch or warning for heavy rain at the moment, the only bit escaping is the very top of Northland. We're expecting them to get some rain, but not heavy rain in the same way," Martino said.
Locations north of Palmerston North are in for a "pretty uncomfortable" night, she added, with temperatures not forecast to dip below 17C.
"It will still be raining, so we're looking at a muggy night."
Full list of weather warnings and watches
Heavy Rain Warning – Orange
Coromandel Peninsula – 25 hours from 2pm Tuesday to 3pm Wednesday
Bay of Plenty – 24 hours from 8pm Tuesday to 8pm Wednesday
Gisborne/Tairāwhiti north of Ruatoria – 24 hours from midnight Tuesday to midnight Wednesday
Tongariro National Park – 24 hours from 10pm Tuesday to 10pm Wednesday
Westland District – 11 hours from 9am Tuesday to 8pm Tuesday
Headwaters of Canterbury Lakes and Rivers south of Lake Sumner – 16 hours from 9am Tuesday to 1am Wednesday
Fiordland north of Milford Sound – 5 hours from 9am Tuesday to 2pm Tuesday
Heavy Rain Watch
Waitomo, Waikato and Taupō – 24 hours from 3pm Tuesday to 3pm Wednesday
Taumarunui and Taihape north of Ohakune – 12 hours from 11pm Tuesday to 11am Wednesday
Taranaki – 23 hours from 9pm Tuesday to 8pm Wednesday
Northland east of Kerikeri and Dargaville, Auckland and Great Barrier Island – 24 hours from 2pm Tuesday to 2pm Wednesday
Strong Wind Watch
Canterbury High Country north of Rangitata River, and Canterbury Plains near foothills – 12 hours from 9am Tuesday to 9pm Tuesday
The morning's headlines in 90 seconds, including weather warnings back in force, a spate of suspicious fires in Dunedin, and the stoush over vegemite in prison. (Source: 1News)
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