MetService forecaster Gerard Barrow said heavy rain was forecast to ease off just before dawn.
“You go into maybe a short period of westerlies with more showers,” he said.
“You could see some fine spells, but there probably will be some showers affecting the Auckland area during Thursday.”
Barrow said most northern and western areas were forecast to be out of the rain by this afternoon.
“The rain would probably hang on for a bit longer for eastern places of the North Island until evening.”
Intense downpours began hitting the south of the country early yesterday, and snowstorms were expected later.
Severe thunderstorms were forecast to strike the top of the North Island last night, with squally downpours bringing threats of flash flooding.
Millions of New Zealanders were placed under weather warnings and watches after MetService issued a swathe of alerts for the South and North Islands.
Auckland was under a severe thunderstorm watch for eight hours from 8pm. Winds were forecast to gust up to 80km/h in parts of the city. Heavy rain was forecast to linger before turning fine.
The storm-battered Gisborne region, north of Ruatōria, had its severe weather alert upgraded to an orange heavy rain warning yesterday. Up to 100mm of rain was forecast to fall in 18 hours.
Gusts up to 110km/h were also possible in these regions, as well as in Gisborne and Rotorua.
North Otago, Dunedin, Clutha, Southland and the West Coast were also placed under heavy rain warnings and watches. Tasman northwest of Motueka, the Richmond and Bryant ranges and Mt Taranaki were under an orange heavy rain warning until 6am today.
Road snowfall warnings were in place from 9am yesterday for Crown Range Rd, Milord Rd (State Highway 94), Lindis Pass (SH8) and Haast Pass (SH6).
They were all forecast to lapse by 3am.
Snow is possible down to 500m in Otago and South Canterbury today when a mass of cold air passes over the South Island.
MetService meteorologist Lewis Ferris said it was “a bad start for the first week of the school holidays”.
Ferris said the severe weather was brought about by a low-pressure system approaching from the Tasman Sea, which dragged some warm and humid air across New Zealand.
Raphael Franks is an Auckland-based reporter who covers breaking news. He joined the Herald as a Te Rito cadet in 2022.
Sign up to The Daily H, a free newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
Weather: New Zealand set for finer spells, showers after downpours, snow warnings
