Saturday is forecast to be windy and rainy for some. (File image) Photo: 123RF
MetService has issued a number of heavy rain warnings for mainly South Island regions on Saturday, with a strong wind warning in place for the Canterbury High Country.
MetService meteorologist John Law said wet weather was forecast in western regions, with the rainfall expected to move up towards Northland at the end of the day, accompanied by strong northwesterly winds.
"Some stronger winds to watch out for through there again in places like Wellington, Marlborough Sounds, Wairarapa - do watch out for those stronger winds, even round parts of Taranaki seeing those winds picking up as well."
Orange level heavy rain warnings are in place for:
- The headwaters of the Canterbury lakes and rivers from Arthurs Pass southwards from 2am Friday to 3pm Saturday; up to 200mm of rain is forecast.
- The headwaters of the Otago lakes and rivers from 11pm Friday to 8am Saturday; up to 110mm of rain is forecast.
- Tararua Range from 6pm Saturday to 6am Sunday; up to 100mm of rain is forecast.
- The ranges of the Westland District from 1am Saturday to 6pm Saturday; up to 200mm of rain is forecast.
There are also a number of rain watches in place for some areas of Waikato, Bay of Plenty, Te Tai Rāwhiti, Richmond, Motueka and Fiordland.
Law said Sunday would have a wet start to the day but the rainfall was expected to clear in the North Island later in the day.
"Even on the South Island there's some decent spells of sunshine places like Canterbury up in towards Nelson and around in towards Marlborough."
But another front would bring rain back into Fiordland and Southland by the end of the day, he said.
There was also a strong wind warning in place for the Canterbury High Country from 1am-1pm Saturday with gusts of up to 120km/h forecast.
Wind watches are in place for Taranaki, Taihape, Whanganui, Wellington, Queenstown Lakes District and some areas of Central Otago and Southland.
