North Island’s wild weather rages on
Don’t stow away your rain jackets, gumboots and umbrellas just yet — the poor weather that has had its way with the country is to linger.
A slow-moving trough has trenched over the central North Island in the past week with about 290mm of rain in inland Hawke’s Bay.
Downpours caused slips on major roads, extra work for farmers and made sewage flow on to Bay streets.
Dawson Bliss said the NapierTaupo Rd on Wednesday was the worst he had seen in 50 years of driving.
“Even for me, I was scared. Water was coming down the hills in waves almost,” he said.
Despite the trough, MetService meteorologist Brian Mercer said another daunting system was brewing in the east.
“The rain is easing at the moment but overnight we are expecting some more heavy falls and they’re going to continue into Friday afternoon,” he said.
“We do also have the possibility of thunderstorms pretty much all day from Wairoa northwards, Napier and Gisborne as well.”
The weekend outlook seemed little better for the central North Island, with the system settled in.
Auckland can expect more scattered rain today, with a mild 17C likely. Tomorrow ought to be better, with little chance of showers.
Next week the mercury level will start to rise as spring kicks in and northerlies start to develop. The rest of the North Island is expected to experience similar temperatures as its been having for the past few days over the weekend.
Wellington has been facing the brunt of the southerly winds but as they die out over the weekend temperatures should start to improve heading into next week.