A thunderstorm watch has been issued for Northland, Auckland and parts of the western North Island starting from this afternoon into the evening.
Yesterday, thousands of lightning strikes accompanied by booming thunder were recorded in parts of the upper North Island during the early hours of the morning.
This morning, MetService said an “energetic band of squally thunderstorms” was forecast to move over northern and western parts of the North Island as well as western Tasman today.
The forecaster has issued a thunderstorm watch for parts of the upper North Island again, including Northland, Auckland, Great Barrier Island, Coromandel Peninsula and parts of western Waikato and Taranaki.
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The watch was forecast to last for eight hours from 4pm through to midnight.
“An active front is expected to move eastwards onto the North Island late this afternoon bringing thunderstorms to several places.
“For Northland, Auckland (including Great Barrier Island), northern Coromandel Peninsula, and western areas of Waikato, Waitomo and Taranaki these thunderstorms may bring downpours of 25mm to 40 mm per hour to localised areas.”
The forecaster said rainfall of this intensity could cause surface and/or flash flooding “especially about low-lying areas such as streams, rivers or narrow valleys, and may also lead to slips”.
It warned driving conditions could also be hazardous with surface flooding and poor visibility in heavy rain.
The main risk would begin in northern Northland and western Taranaki around 4pm and spread east, reaching Auckland and Waikato around 6pm.
“Conditions should begin to ease in western areas from 9pm,” it said.
Earlier this morning, fog disrupted some domestic and regional flights at Auckland Airport.
