Region on heavy rain watch

UPDATED: A severe weather watch is in place for the Bay of Plenty.

Periods of heavy rain are expected from Wednesday evening through most of Thursday.


The WeatherScape image above shows the rainfall accumulations in the northeast flow from yesterday until Thursday 12pm.

The MetService says the Bay of Plenty west of Te Puke is expected to be the worst hit by the inclement weather.

'A moist easterly flow is expected to continue over the North Island until Thursday, with rain likely to continue in the northeast from the Coromandel Peninsula to Hawke's Bay,” says the weather organisation.

'This rain could be significant, especially in areas where ground conditions are already saturated.”

In the Coromandel, rain is expected to continue through Tuesday and Wednesday, with a few heavy falls.

Further rain, possibly more significant, is likely on Thursday.

Earlier:

Rain is in the forecast for the next three days for the Bay of Plenty, but, come Friday, sunshine should be starting to dominate.

A strong high pressure over Australia and another over the ocean to the southeast of New Zealand are causing a traffic jam of weather features in the Tasman Sea.

Sandwiched between these two high pressures, the country is covered with wind from the northeast bringing moisture laden air, says MetService meteorologist Lisa Murray.

This means cloud and rain, especially for those areas first hit by the wind as it comes down from the subtropics. This week sees a continuation of this northeast flow over New Zealand, with Gisborne and Hawke's Bay having a cloudy, wet week.

This flow also brings cloud and showers to many other places with some heavy thundery falls possible over the top half of the North Island on Wednesday.

'Areas like Coromandel Peninsula are already saturated from the rain over the weekend, so continuing showers could cause some surface flooding as water struggles to drain away,” says Lisa.

'There is hope for the school holidays later in the week, with an improving trend to the weather.

'It's best to have a few indoor school holiday activities up your sleeve this week, and be at the ready to go outdoors when you get the chance. Friday looks likely to be the best bet for the main centres.” Looking to the weekend, weather models are indicating a low pressure trough moving over the country, which will mean wind, rain and cloud.

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