The first week of spring will get off to a wet start for most in the North Island, while those further south should see a fair amount of cloud, but not too much in the way of rain or showers.

A small low is going to develop today just west of Auckland and Northland – it doesn’t do a huge amount but locally (around Northland, Auckland, Coromandel and northern Waikato) it could help briefly increase winds and rain by the end of the day/overnight.

Rain is the main feature today – with rain already setting in over Northland and Auckland. It may ease again this afternoon for some areas before the main front comes in tonight/overnight with localised heavy falls.

Winds will be light today but will build from the east to north east and could become gusty for some later in the day or tonight.

OVERALL:

Wind: A low risk of a wind damage late today/tonight – can’t rule out an isolated powercut somewhere in the upper North Island (north of eastern Waikato) but generally shouldn’t be too strong.

Rain: The main feature of this system means more soaking rains today. Surface flooding possible (mostly minor) in Auckland while small streams from Waikato to Northland may see some minor flooding.

We’ll monitor the rain and wind and if things change we’ll update again on this later today as it is one to monitor but generally at the lower end of the risks scale.

– Aaron Wilkinson & Drew Chappell, WeatherWatch.co.nz