Photo: Photo by Evgeny Odinokov / Sputnik / Sputnik via AFP
Showers are expected on Saturday as heavy rain continues to lash parts of New Zealand.
Many received rain and thunderstorms on Friday, as a complex trough moved across the country, affecting Auckland, Northland, the Coromandel Peninsula, Taupō, Bay of Plenty and Tasman.
An amber heavy rain warning was in place for Bay of Plenty and Rotorua until midnight with 25mm to 35mm per hour possible during showers and thunderstorms, MetService said.
A “large” slide blocked a section of State Highway 2 near Pikowai in the Bay of Plenty on Friday evening, police said.
Diversions were in place at the intersections of SH2/Arawa Road and SH2/Otamarakau Valley Road.
A similar weather warning was in place until 11pm for Tasman northwest of Motueka, with up to 80mm expected before then.
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Meanwhile, for those living southeast of Motueka and Marlborough northwest of the Wairau River, the heavy rain is expected to end around the same time.
Heavy rain watches were in place for Taupō (until 9 p.m.), Mt Taranaki (until 8 p.m.) and Gisborne north of Tokomaru Bay (until midnight).
Auckland residents have been warned they may have to endure heavy rain throughout the evening.
Rain was expected during parts of the Super Rugby Pacific semi-final between the Blues and Brumbies at Eden Park.
Photo: Andrew Cornaga/www.photosport.nz
The forecast didn’t look much better for Saturday with widespread rain at midday.
By Saturday morning, most of the rain would have cleared in other parts of the country, but showers could dot the west coasts of the North and South Islands, with Sunday likely to bring much of the same .
“After a wet day on Friday, there could even be some afternoon sunshine around Mystery Creek on Saturday for those participating in Fieldays,” said MetService meteorologist Lewis Ferris.
In other major centres, heavy rain is expected to turn to showers then sunshine in Wellington on Saturday.
The rain was also likely to clear and become a fine day for Christchurch with a similar forecast for Dunedin, although it would remain cloudy.
Although higher areas of the South Island would see some snow during this unsettled period, it is unlikely snowfall would be needed to really kick off the ski area season, Ferris said.
