The West Coast may see close to half a metre of rain in the coming days as "stormy spring weather surges" continue to blast New Zealand into next week.
Aotearoa on Wednesday was hit by the first of "two surges of severe gales" while rain clouds also covered most of the country, bringing showers throughout the day.
Those downfalls will continue for many regions right through into next week, forecaster WeatherWatch says, with the West Coast expected to see up to 200mm of rain over Thursday to Saturday. Another dumping of about 200mm will be dropped on the West Coast over Sunday and Monday.
"[That] means we've got about half a metre of rain falling on the West Coast from this week into next week, so that is a lot when you accumulate it all up," WeatherWatch's Philip Duncan says.
Correction: This story previously said 'half a litre of rain falling'. It has been amended to say 'half a metre of rain falling'.
In Southland, up to 50mm of rain is expected over the next three days, which Duncan says is "not ideal with lambing underway properly".
"Wind and cold aren't very good mix, but when you put the wet in there, the dampness, that's what makes it far more deadly for newborn livestock so we're certainly hoping it's not as bad as that but just letting you know, it will be windy and wet and cold in the lower part of New Zealand."
Another 30mm is expected for Southland at the end of the week and into early next week.
Duncan says the ranges south of Auckland and areas in Hawke's Bay will be relatively dry despite needing the rain.
The second of the week's wind surges will be seen on Friday.
"As we get into Friday, there is the next wintry surge... winter weather comes back into the South Island again on Friday with snow flurries, mostly in the mountains but heavy falls through there might affect some of those alpine highways," he said.
"We'll be seeing windy warm northwesters, or at least mild for this time of the year, on Friday, blowing across the North Island."
Some parts of the Wairarapa may see winds of up to 150km/h on Friday.
"We are expecting some pretty strong wind gusts through the mountains and ranges. The more populated areas like Masterton and Wellington, you're up around 110km/h mark, so it will be blustery as we go through Friday.
"There could be some power cuts, and a few trees down. Further north, the winds aren't so bad but they are still gusting at times into gale force on Friday."
