Heavy rain and high winds are expected in Tauranga and the Western Bay of Plenty this weekend as a tropical cyclone Lusi passes over the North Island.

Current forecasts are for the storm to hit Friday night with rising easterlies and rain, which will get heavier, and winds stronger until conditions begin to ease sometime Sunday afternoon.

The forecast for Saturday.

For Tauranga and the Western Bay of Plenty the heavier rain begins early Saturday morning and by daybreak is expected to be a downpour pushed along by 20-25knot (37-46kmh) east/ south easterly winds.

Depending on the storm's track the winds may strengthen in the afternoon to a 40knt plus easterly, pushing along absolutely torrential rain. By 7pm Saturday the eye of the storm is anticipated to be near Great Barrier Island.

The heavy rain continues in Tauranga with the wind remaining easterly/south easterly in the 20-25kt range until early Sunday morning when it is expected to strengthen to 25-30knots (30-55kmh) before backing to the north/northeast around daybreak.

The eye of the storm is expected to cross over Auckland about 1am and track down the Taranaki Bight. As it does so, the rain in Tauranga will ease back to a mere downpour and the wind will swing round to the north/northwest.

Today tropical cyclone Lusi remains a Category 1 cyclone over Vanuatu with the Fiji Met Service predicting the storm will intensfy rapidly into a Cat3 storm. The central air pressure is currently 987hPa and is expected to drop into the 960s range before reaching New Zealand.

According to Metvuw's forecast Tauranga is at this stage looking to be relatively sheltered from the full forces of the storm, which is looking to strike the Coromandel Coast and East Cape with massive seas.

The last of the rain is expected to be blown away by westerlies on Monday morning.