Auckland marathon

Thunderstorms and bouts of heavy rain are cropping up across most of the country, as mild, muggy weather is set to hang around for most of the week.

It was forecast to reach 28C in Napier, when the average for this time is 20. And those articles are free. This muggy air mass will continue to affect the country through tomorrow. However, another warm air mass pushes onto the country on Wednesday - this will be replaced by cooler air on Thursday.— MetService (@MetService) The weather over most of the country was looking “pretty average” on Saturday, with a lot of rain and shower activity, as well as humidity – except for in Gisborne and Hawke’s Bay. [ had to be postponed](https://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/wellington-top-stories/130318928/six60-postpones-wellington-concert-as-bad-weather-lashes-capital) due to “dangerously high wind gusts”, and rescheduled for Sunday, as the weather was forecast to clear overnight. [19 severe weather watches and warnings in place](https://www.metservice.com/warnings/home) across most of Aotearoa as of Saturday afternoon, 16 of which are for heavy rain across the North and South islands. Meanwhile, heavy rain watches were in place in Waikato, Taupō, Coromandel Peninsula, the central North Island hill country – from Waitomo and North Taranaki to Tongariro National Park – and the ranges of Westland, north of Otira. [Heavy rain warnings](https://www.metservice.com/warnings/home) were in place for Northland, Mount Taranaki, Bay of Plenty (west of Opotiki), Bay of Plenty (from Opotiki eastwards), the Tararua Range, Buller, Richmond and Bryant Ranges, and the Rai Valley, Westland (from Otira southwards) and Tasman west of Motueka, between Saturday and Monday. What was previously a heavy rain watch for Auckland, including Great Barrier Island, had been upgraded to a warning as of 9pm – with MetService forecasting between 60-90mm of rain, and peak rates of 25-40mm in localised downpours during the morning. Thunderstorms and bouts of heavy rain are cropping up across most of the country, as mild, muggy weather is set to hang around for most of the week. [severe thunderstorm warning for Gore and Southland](https://www.metservice.com/warnings/home#lower-south) was issued shortly after 5.30pm, as MetService warned of heavy rain, hail and “frequent” lightning across the region.