A final burst of heavy rain in Nelson is now easing and WeatherWatch.co.nz says satellite imagery shows a definite clearance moving in over the next hour – and it’s a similar story in Northland where the sun has started to shine in the Far North.

While Nelson and Northland are a fair distance apart, both regions are in the west – and with the front very much north to south and tracking eastwards it’s the western areas that are first to see the clearance.

Rain hasn’t been falling over Farewell Spit for some time and that clearance is now drifting east towards Nelson.

WeatherWatch.co.nz head weather analyst Philip Duncan says despite the rain finally easing those in Nelson should stay up to date with the latest warnings, watches and weather news for the region.  “While the main rain band does appear to finally be shifting east the region is so saturated that even showers could cause localised complications over the next 24 hours”.

“Some showers on Friday may be heavy – and this could still quickly lead to flash flooding, surface flooding and more slips simply because the ground can no longer absorb more.  People in Nelson need to remain vigilant to the conditions around them and the weather that is moving in until Saturday at least”.

But heavy rain persists about Marlborough and the lower North Island while heavy rain continues to also feed into Coromandel Peninsula and Bay of Plenty – and much of the North Island.

“Heavy rain will linger over much of the North Island tonight, especially around Bay of Plenty, East Cape and the western slopes of the main divide.  We advise motorists to drive with extreme care and watch for flooding, slips and rock falls”.

Mostly light rain is now falling in Auckland and that will ease to drizzle this evening then skies should mostly dry up overnight.

Brief breather coming before low crosses upper North Island

Friday may not be quite the wet day Wednesday and Thursday were, according to WeatherWatch.co.nz.

The weather news authority says there is a significant gap between the main rain band and the centre of the low.  Head weather analyst Philip Duncan says if it wasn’t for the flooding, the incoming low wouldn’t be a big news story.

“We often think the centre of the low is where the worst weather is. While that is often the case with particularly deep lows, that certainly isn’t the case with this one which isn’t that deep, air pressure-wise”.

Mr Duncan says the main rainstorm is quite detached from the centre of the low with a distance of about 1000kms between the stalled front over the North Island and the centre of the low out in the Tasman.

“In between that main rain band and the centre of the low is a fairly large area of dry weather.  So a number of areas that had rain yesterday and today may end up with a fairly long dry spell either overnight tonight or across Friday.  But as the low moves in during the day we’ll see the winds pick up and the showers move back in”.

WeatherWatch.co.nz says the low may bring in heavy showers to Nelson during Friday then later in the day for those regions further north.

“The weekend for the top half of the North Island looks a bit windy with showers coming and going”.

Next week, on the other hand, sees a return to summer with a large high expected to bring mostly dry weather right up until Christmas for most regions.

– WeatherWatch.co.nz