Warm and wet? You bet

Rain’s on the way, but don’t bother with the woollies — May high temperature records could be nudged in some places today.

MetService has issued heavy rain warnings for Westland, south of Otira, through to 3pm and in the ranges of Nelson, west of Motueka, to 6pm today. Heavy rain watches are also in place for the headwaters of Canterbury lakes and rivers, Westland from Otira north, Buller, the Tararua Range and Mt Taranaki today.

The high parked over New Zealand had been pushed to the east by a series of fronts bringing a lot of rain, MetService meteorologist Alwyn Bakker said.

“We’re getting this wash of moisture travelling up the country. So most places are going to be seeing rain or showers, except generally the east.”

Eastern centres of the South Island were expecting highs 10C above normal for this time of year, Bakker said, with Christchurch and Kaiko¯ ura forecast to reach 25C and Timaru 23C.

In Kaiko¯ura the previous record for May was 25.8C, reached in 1999. Records in the town go back to 1991.

In Christchurch, where records date to 1863, the temperature reached 27C in 2002. Timaru’s May record is 26C, also in 2002.

Other parts of the country would also be warm — Napier can expect 24C, about 6C above normal.

It may also be windy for some today, with strong wind watches issued for Marlborough, Wellington and Wairarapa, south of Masterton.

In the top half of the North Island, temperatures are expected to remain in the low 20s until Wednesday.

The damp weather will continue through tomorrow and Tuesday, generally in western parts, easing on Wednesday, except in Northland and Auckland, Bakker said.