Rain, wind on the way
Taranaki will take a page out of Wellington’s book with ‘‘pretty nasty’’ winds tailing a front expected to pummel the South Island.
Swells will tower nearly as high as a two-story building along South Taranaki coasts as winds rip across the Cook Straight on Thursday, National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (Niwa) climate scientist Nava Fedaeff said.
‘‘With wind comes higher swell. Offshore we’ll see five to six-metre swells and that is significant wave height,’’ she said.
‘‘Winds will pick up tomorrow but Thursday is looking pretty nasty with gusts exceeding 100 kilometres an hour in parts of the region.’’
The storm is forecast to bring more rain, snow and heavy winds but is expected to clear in time for the weekend.
Rain will start Tuesday evening and is expected to ‘‘pick up’’ Wednesday, continuing through Thursday, Fedaeff said.
‘‘It’s going to be pretty wet for the next couple of days,’’ she said.
‘‘But it won’t be the sort of thing Taranaki saw in the weekend with the flash floods.’’
Fedaeff explained water accumulation would be what the region was used to, so long as forecasted amounts ‘‘trickle’’ instead of downpour.
The average rainfall amounts for the month of July in New Plymouth usually totalled about 136 millimetres, she said, and so far the city had seen about 70mm of that.
‘‘There will be another 30mm to 40mm in the next few days. But this time around, it’s not looking like anything over the top.
However, Fedaeff did warn of extremely strong winds, which would start blowing in on Wednesday and gain powerful gusts by Thursday afternoon.
‘‘It will be a big impact day,’’ she said.
Southern coastal towns ‘‘will be the most exposed by the push of southerly air’’, Fedaeff said, with gusts travelling as fast as cars at speeds of up to 110km/hr.
‘‘We’ll be in really damaging wind territory,’’ she said.
‘‘That’s when you can expect broken tree limbs, and there will be a risk of power outages.
‘‘And with that southerly push of weather, there will be quite a bit of snow on Mt Taranaki.’’
Maximum temperatures throughout the region would barely reach double digits and, combined with the wind chill, could feel as cold as -5 degrees Celsius or lower.
‘‘This can have a negative impact on livestock,’’ Fedaeff said.
But, she added, better weather is on the horizon.
‘‘The weather looks to be improving by Friday, and even better on Saturday.
‘‘We just have to get through the next few days as the weather sort of bears down on us.’’
Sergeant Bruce Irvine urged people to drive to the conditions.
‘‘If it’s raining, then put your lights on and increase your following distance. It’s going to take you longer to stop in the wet and visibility will be decreased so you won’t see things as early,’’ Irvine said.
‘‘If the weather is really bad and you don’t have to go out, then stay home.’’
Senior station officer Maurice Kemsley, Fire and Emergency New Zealand, encouraged home owners to check their gutters were clear and secure loose outdoor items before the storm hit.