Issued at 8:02am 4/06/2026
Valid from 8:02am 4/06/2026 to Midnight 4/06/2026
A moist northwesterly flow with embedded fronts and troughs is expected to affect New Zealand today. Periods of heavy rain are likely in many exposed areas. From southern Buller through coastal Grey, Westland, and Fiordland, there is a moderate risk of thunderstorms throughout the period. In northern Buller and western Nelson, there is a moderate risk of thunderstorms this evening and at night. In Taranaki and western Waitomo, there is a moderate risk of thunderstorms this afternoon, evening, and at night. These storms may be accompanied by heavy rain, with intensities of 10 to 25 mm/h. There is a low risk of thunderstorms across a broader area extending east of the moderate-risk areas, as well as in Kapiti, Wellington, Northland, Auckland, Waikato, the Coromandel Peninsula, and coastal Bay of Plenty. There is minimal risk of thunderstorms or significant convection elsewhere in New Zealand during this period.

Issued at 8:53am 4/06/2026
Valid from Midnight 4/06/2026 to Midday 5/06/2026
A moist northwesterly flow with embedded fronts and troughs continues to affect the nation. Periods of heavy rain are likely in many exposed areas. For Taranaki there is a moderate risk of thunderstorms with heavy rain, 10 to 25 mm/h and strong winds gusts, 90 to 100 km/h. For the Marlborough Sounds, western Nelson and the west coast from Buller to Fiordland there is a moderate risk of thunderstorms with heavy rain. 10 to 25 mm/h. There is a low risk of thunderstorms in a broader area extending east from the moderate risk area as well as for Kapiti, Wellington and coastal Waikato and Waitomo. There is minimal risk of thunderstorms or significant convection elsewhere in New Zealand during this period.

Issued at 8:56am 4/06/2026
Valid from Midday 5/06/2026 to Midnight 5/06/2026
A moist unstable northwesterly flow with embedded fronts and troughs affects the upper South Island and the North Island. A front is expected to move east onto the upper North Island in the afternoon. For Taranaki, Waitomo, Waikato, Auckland, Northland and Coromandel Peninsula there is a moderate risk of thunderstorms during the period. These storms may be accompanied by heavy rain, 10 to 25 mm/h, strong wind gusts, 100 km/h and there is a risk of localised tornadoes. For the Bay of Plenty including Rotorua there is a moderate risk of thunderstorms in the evening and at night. These storms may be accompanied by heavy rain, 10 to 25 mm/h, strong wind gusts 100 km/h, and there is a risk of localised tornadoes. For Buller, western Nelson and the Marlborough Sounds there is a moderate risk of thunderstorms with heavy rain, 10 to 25 mm/h throughout the period. There is a low risk of thunderstorms in a slightly broader area as indicated on the chart. There is minimal risk of thunderstorms or significant convection elsewhere in New Zealand during this period.

In New Zealand, MetService classifies a thunderstorm as severe if one or more of the following criteria are met:
Rainfall of 25mm/h, or more.
Hailstones 20mm in diameter, or larger.
Gusts of 110km/h (60 knots) or stronger.
Fujita F1 - i.e. wind speeds greater than 116km/h (63 knots) or stronger.
Note: some tornadic systems such as funnel clouds, waterspouts and small land-based tornadoes are possible with thunderstorms that may not be classified as severe.