- State of emergency still in place
Meteorologist Kyle Lee said the front would be preceded by a warm, moist and strong northerly flow, then followed by a change to relatively cool southwesterlies.
"On Sunday and Monday, there is moderate confidence of rainfall accumulations reaching warning amounts in Fiordland and Westland south of Otira.
"In addition, during Sunday, there is low confidence of northerly winds reaching severe gale strength in exposed parts of Fiordland, Westland, northern parts of Southland, inland Otago and the Canterbury high country."
Mr Lee said the rain would not be as heavy or long-lasting as the rain which caused widespread flooding and damage earlier this week.
"But I think, because the ground is already saturated, any added rainfall for most of these areas will not be seeping into the ground as quick, and probably will cause surface flooding in areas.
"But in terms of where that will happen and what sort of damage it will incur, I'm not 100% sure yet."
A West Coast Regional Council spokeswoman said the council was aware of the forecast and was monitoring the situation closely.
She said it was too soon to say if preventative action would need to be taken.
"Intelligence is aware of the rain that's coming, but at this stage, it's just a little bit too early to tell exactly how much we'll get."
Otira farmer and trucking company owner John Nolan said the community was not concerned about the forecast.
"At the moment, all the rivers have dropped again and everything is drying out again now.
"It's just another day for us on the West Coast. We get this thrown at us quite often. We'll just take what comes."
