Bahamas in our pyjamas as hot, sticky nights roll on
Thunderstorms and heavy rain have passed over the North Island, but muggy nights leading to unbearable sleeps are not going anywhere for the next month.
In Auckland warm and humid conditions are expected throughout the week, MetService meteorologist Josh Griffins said.
Motorists on the North Shore were stranded in swamped vehicles, more than a dozen homes were flooded and kids kayaked in the street as a storm cell dumped 62.4mm of rain on the area between 8am and 9am yesterday — the wettest hour in at least eight years.
Two motorists needed rescuing from their vehicles after they became submerged in the waist-deep floodwater, a section of Caribbean Drive was closed and lanes on the Upper Harbour Highway were blocked by the quickly rising floodwaters.
The rain also caused sewage to overflow into Castor Bay and Milford with swimmers advised to avoid the water.
The wet weather was expected to ease off in Auckland last night with cloudy and patchy drizzle expected today, moving to morning cloud and fine weather tomorrow. Friday would be partly cloudy.
But there would be a moderate risk of thunderstorms in the northern Hawke’s Bay ranges, the Gisborne ranges and the Eastern Bay of Plenty, MetService meteorologist Heath Gullery said.
Up north there was low risk for thunderstorms for inland Northland through to this evening and down south the ranges of Marlborough and central and eastern Otago also had a low risk.
On Monday night Auckland recorded its highest measure of humidity this summer, recording an uncomfortable 22C.
Niwa said the dew point, which is a measure of humidity, was because of the sub-tropical northerly air flow and warm seas. It’s deemed uncomfortable when it goes higher than 18C.
MetService forecaster Tom Adams said the general weather pattern causing the uncomfortably, sticky nights was set to be with us through February at least.
He said westerly winds circling the globe were trapped in a jet stream high in the atmosphere, meaning cooler polar air was unable to surge out and produce a good southerly.