A front moves off to the east of the North Island today then another front moves onto western New Zealand during the evening and overnight. A northwesterly airflow lies over the country on Thursday with wet conditions in the west and drier weather out east, the east coast of the North Island sees a few spots of rain however.

A mixture of rain or showers for most of the North Island today, there may be long dry areas develop for a time in the afternoon then later in the evening / overnight showers push into the west with a chance of heavy falls. Some morning rain about the Bay Of Plenty and Central North Island may be heavy then easing. Rain or showers about the upper South Island clears around midday then some sun breaks through, mostly sunny elsewhere for the South Island. From afternoon heavy rain pushes into Fiordland then reaching North Westland later in the evening. Showers / spits of rain move into Southland later in the evening / overnight.

Rain or showers for the western North Island on Thursday, heavy at times with a risk of thunder / hail especially Taranaki southwards. Spots of rain spread to the east coast at times. Showers with thunderstorms and hail possible for the West Coast of the South Island, mostly sunny out east with some high cloud. A few morning showers about the southeastern corner of the South Island clear then a few may appear again in the evening.

By Weather Analyst Aaron Wilkinson – WeatherWatch.co.nz