Rain's on the way, but not enough to replenish drought-hit Auckland and Northland

February 20, 2020

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Rain is expected to move up the country and dampen drought affected areas in Auckland and Northland this weekend, but it's not nearly enough to replenish the most dry areas.

NIWA meteorologist Ben Noll told 1 NEWS today the forecast five to 10mm of rainfall will not be enough to replenish the severely dry soil. 

He said in some areas the soil was in "severe deficit", lacking one to two months of rain.

"It's not nearly enough, we'd need quite a bit more," he said, of this weekend's weather. "It's just a small drop in the bucket."

Mr Noll said ideally those areas in Auckland, Northland and Waikato would need about four or five good soakings of rainfall to moisten them up. Too much rain too fast though could lead to flooding, he added.

John Carter says the dire situation in the north is getting worse “by the day”.

In more bad news for the areas though, he said next week after the front moves on, it would make way for more dry weather.

MetService meteorologist Lewis Ferris agreed the front would not bring enough rain to be "a drought breaker".

A front coming from Australia is expected to move up the west side of the South Island tomorrow and most other parts of the country on Saturday, bringing with it cool weather and rain.

Auckland will be affected by showers throughout the second half of Saturday as well as Sunday morning. Wellington will see the wet weather late Friday and early Saturday, as well as Christchurch which is expected to have showers Saturday.

"It's not prolonged, it's a short period of rain," Mr Ferris said, but added "people will see a short respite from dry weather."

MetService has issued a severe weather watch for a period of heavy rain in the west of the South Island tomorrow, and northerly gales about Fiordland tonight.

A heavy rain watch is also in place for the ranges of Buller and Westland from Otira northwards most of tomorrow, as well as the headwaters of Canterbury Lakes and Rivers and Fiordland. A strong wind watch is also in place for Fiordland.

MetService advised the public to keep up to date with the latest forecasts in case any changes are made.

In addition to the dry conditions, they’re facing a drop in demand from China.

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