It’s almost like being in middle of a parade.  One front after another will march across the country over the next several days.

Each front will bring with it a chance for precipitation.  But there will also be some settled periods between each front.  So, there will be at least a few chances at some settled weather over the weekend and into Monday.

The first front is scheduled to make its way across the country on tomorrow into Saturday.  It will bring rain to the West Coast late tomorrow and to the deep south early Saturday morning.  The rain will then spread north across much of the South Island during the day on Saturday.  The far eastern sections could stay dry during the day on Saturday but rain could move in Saturday night.  

Some heavy rain will be possible for Westland south of Otira during tomorrow afternoon and evening.  Heavy rain will also be possible tomorrow afternoon and evening…and Saturday morning for the headwaters of the Otago Lakes and rivers.  Heavy rain is also possible from tomorrow evening to Saturday evening about the headwaters of the Canterbury lakes and rivers.  Government forecaster MetService has issued Heavy Rain Warnings for these areas.

The front is then likely to spread the rain onto the lower North Island by Saturday evening.  Wellington, Wairarapa, Wanganui and Taranaki could all be getting wet at that time.  Western Waikato could also see some rain before Saturday turns into Sunday.

Speaking of Sunday, most of the rain should clear the islands for the early part of the day with Northland and Auckland possibly seeing some rain lingering into the late morning hours.  But by Sunday afternoon, a new front will come on shore and bring rain the southern and western sections of both islands.  The rest of the country should stay dry.

Monday could be a fairly settled day with just a slight chance for rain for the southern and western sections of both islands. 

A more significant weather system is expected to bring more widespread rain chances to both islands.  At this time, it looks like the majority of rain will hold off until Tuesday.

By WeatherWatch Analyst Howard Joseph