An area of low pressure will slowly slide up the western side of New Zealand over the next day or two before falling apart and merging with another system north east of Gisborne this weekend. 

This set up, which is a little unusual, creates heavy rain in both the south western side of NZ and the north eastern corner. 

Cooler air is also about to move into the South Island and that will turn rain to snow higher up in the mountains.

The Rain Map below covers the next THREE days, while the Snow Map covers the next TWO days.

WeatherWatch.co.nz says it’s possible 150mm will fall in the Gisborne Ranges and a rain warning may be issued ahead of the event, but that regions surrounding may have far lower totals. A bit of a messy system to monitor.

– WeatherWatch.co.nz