Weather: Heavy rain remains for Auckland, worst downpours head for East Coast

Showers and intermittent heavy falls will continue around Auckland today and into Monday, but the heaviest downpours seen last night have moved on to threaten Gisborne and the East Coast.

MetService has issued a heavy rain watch for the Gisborne region, which is active from 4am to 4pm today, prompting Uawa Civil Defence - Tologa Bay East Coast to warn residents to keep their and their families’ safety front of mind.

Waves up to 10 metres high were expected at the centre of the storm, the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (Niwa) said. The worst of the weather was expected offshore as a low-pressure system developed into a “weather bomb”, scientifically termed an explosive cyclogenesis.

MetService also issued heavy rain watches for Northland, Auckland north of Whangaparāoa Peninsula and Great Barrier Island; the Coromandel Peninsula; and the Bay of Plenty. The last of these lapsed at 9am today.

Auckland’s Saturday was expected to begin with heavy falls continuing north of Whangaparāoa before they eased to showers in the afternoon. MetService expected these showers to clear in the evening. A daily high of 15C was forecasted and the overnight low was tipped to dip to 11C.

Sunday in the City of Sails had partly cloudy conditions forecasted, with showers - some heavy - predicted to develop in the afternoon. The daily high was expected to reach 17C and the low was expected to remain at 11C.

Monday should be partly cloudy with some showers developing in the morning. It was expected to reach 16C and fall to 10C. Looking further ahead, rain was expected to clear on Tuesday, when it cloudy skies were tipped to take over. Fine conditions were forecasted from Wednesday.

Raphael Franks is an Auckland-based reporter who covers breaking news. He joined the Herald as a Te Rito cadet in 2022.