It’s been a rough week of rain, but it’s not quite over.
A nasty front is making its way over from near Tasmania and threatens to bring one last soaking.
The majority of the South Island is under either heavy rain warnings or strong wind watches on Thursday.
The front is expected to hit the already flood-damaged West Coast on Thursday afternoon, bringing heavy rainfall and possible thunderstorms with it.
The West Coast has been hammered by storms this month, which caused flooding, slips, fallen trees, and road closures.
Heavy rain warnings are in place on Thursday for Westland, Buller, Fiordland, and the Canterbury headwaters, which are likely to put even further stress on flood barriers.
MetService meteorologist Mmathapelo Makgabutlane said the bulk of the bad weather wasn’t arriving until Thursday evening, and it would last into Friday.
Westland residents can expect to see between 120mm and 160mm of rain to fall from about 2 pm onwards.
MetService warns that heavy rain may cause streams and rivers to rise rapidly. Surface flooding and slips are also possible, and driving conditions may be hazardous.
A strong wind warning is also in place for the Canterbury High Country on Thursday, and wind watches are in place for parts of Otago, Marlborough, Wellington, Wairarapa, and Tararua District.
There was a moderate risk of thunderstorms for coastal Fiordland on Thursday afternoon, spreading to all of Fiordland, Westland, Buller, and western parts of Southland, Otago, and Canterbury during the evening.
The front is expected to move fairly quickly up the South Island on Thursday, and start affecting the North Island by Friday morning.
Auckland would have a mostly fine day on Thursday, with a high of 20C. The rain was expected to arrive in the region on Friday.
Wellington was in for a mostly fine day, with a high of 18C. But heavy rain and strong wind gusts were expected to arrive in the evening.
Christchurch was forecast to be overcast, with a high of 21C. On Friday, showers and a southwesterly change would kick in.
And in Dunedin, the forecast is also overcast, with a high of 18C on Thursday. However, Friday would see showers and southwesterlies arrive.
“The last system we had going across was a big swirling low,” Metservice forecaster Gerard Bellam said. “That can spread rain and wind to a large area, but this is more a standard front coming in from the west and moving quite quickly.”
Looking forward to the weekend, a cooler change is expected to come through on Friday bringing showers and southerly winds, dropping the temperature gauge a few notches.
“We’ve got an unsettled spell in the leadup to Christmas. [It] is a very changeable weather pattern,” Bellam said.
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