Another weather bomb to relieve a crippling drought: Incredible amount of rain bringing sub-tropical drenching with heavy downpours to New Zealand

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• Another weather bomb to relieve a crippling drought in less than a week in parts of New Zealand
• Comes after rain has relieved crippling droughts in Zimbabwe and California recently

The Bay of Plenty is being warned to brace for a sub-tropical drenching with heavy downpours so intense the crippling drought affecting parts of the North Island may be finally be broken.
Heavy rain is expected to hit the country tomorrow and last for up to a week.
This morning Metservice issued a severe weather watch for the Western Bay of Plenty and Rotorua, warning of heavy, possibly thundery, falls from late tomorrow until Thursday.

At the same time the South Island is facing an autumnal cold snap with temperatures in some regions barely registering above single digits.
MetService said a low pressure system was expected to stay at the top of the country dragging humid air down from the subtropics and bringing rain across northern regions.
The downpours were expected be intense there was a possibility warnings would be issued for upper districts of the North Island.
The rain was also expected to fall over Gisborne, the Hawkes Bay ranges, and the central North Island high country but not to warning levels.
At this stage there was still some uncertainty about which areas would get the heaviest rain. Weatherwatch.co.nz said the rain would finally bring relief to farmers in Northland and Gisborne signalling an end to the drought.
Meanwhile, temperatures in the far south had started plummeting with Dunedin and Invercargill reaching just 14C today and expected to be even cooler tomorrow.
Weatherwatch.co.nz said Christchurch, which has a high in the mid-20s today, would feel a noticeable nip overnight plunging to 14C before bouncing back later this week.

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