Updated 5:18pm — There aren’t many parts of the country that often receive set in rain for over 24 hours. Fiordland and the West Coast are no strangers to days of relentless rain (they also get days of pure sun). Further north, however, rain tends to move through much faster – and sunnier days are more limited.

The big difference is that the West Coast has the Southern Alps to block the rain clouds.

When you head north to Auckland the city becomes as narrow as just a kilometre or so in places and is surrounded by two entirely separate bodies of water, the Tasman Sea and the Pacific Ocean. With no tall blocking ranges rain clouds tend to pass through quickly.

Which is why over 30 hours of rain in our largest city is unusual – and why more rain for the next several hours or so will make this one of the wettest 48 hour periods the city has had this year as far as total hours with precipitation. 

There is one main difference between Auckland’s set in rain and what the West Coast gets – today the rain is fairly patchy and light, not at the levels we see further south. Heavier downpours are about now – and this evening – but does ease back to drizzle and dry spells tonight.

So why is Auckland so wet at the moment?
A few reasons – low pressure in the Tasman Sea, an area of instability coming out of central and eastern Australia towards the North Island and a sub-tropical northerly airflow coming down over northern New Zealand… all of this is combining to produce a slow moving band of rain which is tracking sideways – this sideways movement keeps the rain feeding along over Auckland and other North Island regions with the sub-tropical airflow helping feed this rain today (see our animation here).

– Image / 6pm Rain map / weathermap

– WeatherWatch.co.nz