Nelson rains, Golden Bay pours

Golden Bay is guaranteed to get wet but Nelson isn’t immune to having their weekend plans ruined by another round of rain.

Metservice meteorologist Brian Mercer said a system currently moving down the country which would affect parts of Northland and Waikato was expecting to bring heavy bands of rain onto the South Island by late Saturday evening.

‘‘The system is quite active and so there’s a little bit of uncertainty about the exact timings – we’ve got that rain which will probably get quite heavy probably late [Saturday] night and into Sunday morning,’’ Mercer said.

‘‘Then there is the potential for thunderstorms in the afternoon and with those there can always be quite heavy falls and potential flooding. ‘‘

No severe weather warning has been issued for the region as yet. However Mercer envisaged an upgraded warning would be in place within the next 24 hours as the weather models became clearer.

‘‘At the moment it looks like the worst of the stuff on Saturday and Sunday is in Golden Bay area and up in the ranges. Nelson City itself is likely to get some heavy falls and possible thunderstorms but at the moment it looks like the worst of it is going to track further west.’’

‘‘Golden Bay is just that part of the country sticking out which catches a lot of that kind of weather, whereas Nelson is just a little bit more sheltered.’’

The rain will not be accompanied by the destructive high tide that caused havoc in the region on February 1.

The forecast has also forced local event organisers to reconsider their plans. One notable casualty was Nelson Multicultural Council’s Asian Night Food fair event at Richmond’s Washbourn Gardens, originally scheduled for Saturday evening.

It will now be held next Saturday February 17 at the same venue.