Thunder, hail, heavy showers tipped for Auckland evening commute; wind warning for Harbour Bridge

Thunderstorms, heavy showers, hail and sudden gusts are forecast to hit Auckland during this evening’s rush hour, with lightning possible around the North Island.
And NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA) has warned commuters travelling on the Auckland Harbour Bridge that lane closures are possible tonight and Tuesday morning amid strong winds.
“Motorists are being encouraged to take extra care if travelling on the Auckland Harbour Bridge this evening, with possible 90km/h west and south-west wind gusts between 8pm tonight and 10am tomorrow,” NZTA said.
NZTA said the bridge is expected to have four lanes open in each direction during peak traffic on Tuesday morning, but encouraged commuters to look out for traffic management and electronic message boards indication any lane closures or speed reductions.
Heavy rain has already begun to fall, with MetService saying its weather station in Kelburn, Wellington, had recorded the fifth wettest 24 hours in October in almost 100 years.
MetService meteorologist Ngaire Wotherspoon said a low-pressure system to the west was sending “quite unstable rain and showers” across the top of the country.
“Most places in the North Island andupper south are going to see some showers today. It’s quite rainy in Wellington right now.
“More central areas are looking at the possibility of thunderstorms – there is a moderate risk in the interior of the North Island, Northland, and Auckland,” she said.
Ata mārie, good morning 📡🌧💨 It’s a wet morning over northern and central Aotearoa NZ today under a low-pressure system centered west of Taranaki📏 Te Whanganui a Tara / Wellington has been especially wet – our Kelburn station has measured over 30mm of rain today already pic.twitter.com/4lomvDlhjd
Lightning is already “popping off” over the central North Island, MetService said around 2.45pm, adding more is expected through the afternoon along with hail and heavier showers.
A lightning strike map posted to Twitter showed multiple strikes lined up over the North Island, with another band offshore.
🌩 Lightning popping off over the central North Island – more expected through the afternoon along with hail and heavier showers. pic.twitter.com/3PQdCcgFGQ
Auckland’s forecast high is 16C, with the temperature to drop to 10C overnight. MetService said scattered showers, some heavy, were possible this morning and evening.
Tomorrow should see strong winds in the morning, but these are expected to ease in the afternoon. The forecast high is 17C and the low is 11C.
The rest of the week has partly cloudy and mainly fine conditions forecast and the weekend is expected to reach 19C.
Whangārei has a forecast of thunder and hail today and tomorrow should be fine but windy. Tauranga had a cloudy day forecast with some showers. Gisborne has a heavy rain forecast, but this is expected to clear tonight before returning tomorrow. Napier only had a few showers forecast, remaining mostly cloudy today.
MetService is forecasting heavy rain for Wellington, saying these should ease to isolated showers by the afternoon. Gales were expected in exposed places, also tipped to ease later. The forecast high is 11C and the low is 9C.
MetService said 70.2mm of rain was recorded at its Kelburn weather station. Parts of Kelburn were flooded this morning.
“[This] is the fifth wettest 9am-9am October period at that station since our records started in 1927.”
Tomorrow, the capital can expect cloudy conditions with rain from the evening. The forecast high is 13C and the low is 7C. Wednesday through Friday will be partly cloudy and showers return for the weekend.
Meanwhile, in the South Island, “most of today is going to be quite a sunny day, but we are looking at quite a decent drop in temperatures down there”, Wotherspoon said.
Christchurch should sit on overnight lows of 3C and high temperatures of 13C until Friday.
MetService forecast a partly cloudy day for the Garden City today, a few showers tomorrow morning, partly cloudy on Wednesday with a chance of a shower, and fine on Thursday.
Raphael Franks is an Auckland-based reporter who covers breaking news. He joined the Herald as a Te Rito cadet in 2022.
Sign up to The Daily H, a free newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.