A band of heavy, possibly torrential, rain is expected along the western and northern sides of NZ overnight tonight and during Sunday morning, as a spring front moves through.

For Auckland today we are not expecting thunderstorms.  Today should be mostly dry and cloudy, with a few light showers about.

After midnight – and before dawn – we expect a band of heavy rain to move into the western coastline, including Auckland.

Most exposed to this torrential rain will be Northland, Auckland, Waikato, Coromandel Peninsula, BOP, Taranaki, Kapiti and Auckland.

Please note torrential rain will not be widespread for all regions – but each region mentioned has a risk of severe weather as a result of this front.

Rainfall rates may be extremely high for a time in locaslised thundery downpours.  This could lead to flash flooding and surface flooding, similar to what we saw in Wellington and the lower North Island last night.

The most extreme weather will be localised areas and the risk zone is from the upper South Island to the top of the North Island, mainly north western facing areas.

Thunderstorms may produce cloud to ground strikes, as we saw in Wellington last night.

WeatherWatch.co.nz advises people to remain indoors during thunderstorms.  Globally lightning kills more people than any other severe weather, and while the numbers of lightning strikes on humans in NZ is very low this could be partially attributed to messages like this making it to the public beforehand.

It’s possible roads may have flooding during intense downpours overnight and during Sunday morning.

Airline passengers

Again we advise airline passengers travelling on Sunday morning to check with their airline and airport before flying in case of possible North Island delays, especially with regional and domestic flights early on Sunday.

– WeatherWatch.co.nz