Heavy downpours have swept down the upper North Island today and continue as we head through this afternoon.

The main band of rain is tracking into eastern Bay of Plenty now and into Central Plateau with isolated heavy falls.

It’s dry in Auckland now after a very wet morning with ponding/surface water on highways and a very slow commute. Hopefully peak traffic this evening will move faster than this morning under sunnier skies – although isolated downpours are possible (35% chance) in Auckland late this afternoon or evening.

Speaking of downpours – isolated heavy showers are again crossing parts of Northland this afternoon, these are the ones that may drift towards Auckland later. 

On Thursday the bulk of the wet weather swings around to eastern areas of central New Zealand, especially the lower North Island and the Kaikoura area in the South Island.

Isolated showers will be elsewhere in the North Island on Thursday with driest weather expected in Southland and the West Coast.

– Forecast Rain Radar for Noon Thursday – Weathermap

– WeatherWatch.co.nz