Weather: More rain to fall on already saturated soils, gusts to bring 6 metre swells

It has placed a heavy rain watch on Northland beginning 3pm Thursday until 3am Friday. On Friday and into Saturday, the gales will tend west-northwest, affecting much of the upper North Island from Taranaki to Hawke’s Bay northward. However, with already saturated ground, any further heavy rain could be problematic, and strong wind is an added complication. At this stage, Fernandes said MetService is unclear just how much damage the fast-moving weather system will do. A heavy rain warning is in place for Westland south of Harihari, which began at midday today.