Rainfall to Blast Down on New Zealand, Australia; Kiwi Farmers Welcome Respite

Large amounts of rainfall are expected to fall down on New Zealand and Australia early this week. Kiwi farmers at upper North Island however are excited over the development.

"The climatic conditions...were actually worse than they were this time last year heading into the drought. Any rain we get this time is really much welcomed," James Houghton, Waikato Federated Farmers president, was quoted by portal farmingshow.com.

New Zealand is expecting ex-tropical Cyclone June to come in on Monday. Albeit now a smaller cyclone, farmers are waiting for its rainfall which is expected to reach 1-3 inches (2-7 cm) before it finally leaves the island on Tuesday.

"She was a smallish cyclone, getting up to a category two as she moved past New Caledonia. Now [it is] moving into cooler waters into New Zealand, so there will be very strong winds blowing her apart," Daniel Corbett, MetService meteorologist, told Firstline.

Liz Walsh, another MetService meteorologist, said ex-tropical Cyclone June has "lots of moisture, bringing down humid, warm air full of rain."

"It's going to be wet for a while," Ms Walsh said. Winds may hit 30 mph (50 kph) as what is left as June moves through.

Rain has already fallen in parts of Northland, Auckland and Waikato on Monday morning. Much as they need the rain, Mr Houghton warned farmers to take precautions.

"Put your cows in sheltered paddocks, don't put them too close to some big trees that might be prone to falling in winds and that sort of stuff," he said.

"And don't try and do anything stupid that the wind could have its impact on you, your livestock."

Australia, particularly central Australia, meantime will likewise experience heavy rainfall this week from an unnamed weather system.

According to AccuWeather.com, the storm will dump rainfall over central Australia of up to 8 inches (20 cm), as it slowly weakens and pushes south and west into the early part of the week.