4 Sep 2023

Upper North Island in for a soaking - but warmer temperatures on the way

7:32 am on 4 September 2023
Rain radar at 7.30am on 4 Sep.

Photo: MetService

The top of the North Island remains under a heavy rain watch - with some not ending until Tuesday.

But there is a silver lining - with warmer weather expected later in the week.

MetService said a band of rain was expected to move slowly down the country, with "embedded heavy falls".

"There is a risk that the rain band could become stationary at times, increasing rainfall accumulation in localised places, where amounts may approach warning criteria especially in the east. Thunderstorms are possible."

Auckland, north of Papakura, and Great Barrier Island are under a watch until 3am on Tuesday.

Northland, south of the Bay of Islands, was under the watch until 3pm on Monday, and Coromandel Peninsula, and the Hunua Range, was under its watch until midday on Tuesday.

MetService meteorologist Hordur Thordarson said "significant" amounts of rain was falling from the rain band moving southwards over the upper North Island.

In the past 24 hours, 57 millimetres of water had fallen over Kaikohe - with the highest hourly rainfall rate 17.8ml.

That was "quite a lot", Thordarson said.

However, MetService was not expecting rainfall to amount to warning levels.

The ground was expected to be "pretty soggy" in Auckland and it could persist into tomorrow, he said.

He advised people to clear drains and make sure rainfall had an easy way to fun off. This meant flooding was unlikely unless there was another issue - such as blocked drains.

Thordarson said this weather was "very usual" for this time of year.

What was unusual was the warmer temperatures that MetService was expecting over the rest of the week.

"It will feel really Spring-like compared to what we have been experiencing in recent weeks," he said.