Easter weather: rainy, cooler conditions to advance until Monday, Tuesday

After soaking in many areas of the west yesterday, the rainy weather will continue across the country until the last day of the Easter weekend.

Temperatures will also cool as there is a shift to the southwesterly winds, says MetService.

On-call forecaster Andrew James said the west coast and Taranaki had been hit by rain and hurricane-force winds overnight as a front and a bass advanced through the country.

The Westland Ranges received over 200mm of rain in the 24 hours to 7am today, while about 130mm landed in the Tasmanian Ranges.

Mount Taranaki had received over 100mm, while wind speeds had reached up to 80km / h at New Plymouth Airport.

But there were still many alerts and warnings for the North Island earlier today.

“Rain and wind are coming out this morning for most places and then they continue to improve as we move into tomorrow.”

“But behind this front we get into a downpour in the southwest, which means there will be fine breaks in between as well after it heads for tomorrow. Most showers are limited to the western parts of both islands.”

Another rainy weather band is about to hit Northland and Auckland this morning.

In addition to the rains, wind, and colder temperatures, some parts of the deep south will also wake up with some snow tomorrow morning.

James said the snow is likely to fall before sunrise.

He wasn’t sure how much, but he said there were highway snowfall warnings for Milford Rd, Crown Range, and Lindis Pass during the first few hours.

EASTER MONDAY TIME

Whangarei – High 22C Low 14C
Auckland – 20C, 14C
Hamilton – 20C, 11C
Tauranga – 22C, 13C
Wellington – 17C, 9C
Christchurch – 18C, 2C
Dunedin – 17C, 6C
Invercargill – 10C, 4C