Autumn greets Kiwis with a heavy dumping of rain
Cold, strong southwesterly winds set to follow intense trough
Autumn is greeting Kiwis with heavy rain and thunderstorms as a trough of low pressure closes in on Aotearoa from the west. MetService was predicting heavy rain for western parts of the South Island and another lashing for the central North Island.
The bad weather comes after Aucklanders were belted yesterday afternoon by heavy rain as a cold front stalled over the city.
Meteorologist Juliana Bergdolt told the Herald the “quite intense” trough would be moving from the South Island to the North Island today, reaching Auckland tonight.
The national forecaster has orange heavy rain warnings in place for parts of Fiordland, the Otago headwaters, as well as the Tararua Range and Mount Taranaki.
“Heavy rain watches are in place for the Westland ranges, the Headwaters of Canterbury lakes and rivers from Arthur’s Pass southwards, central and western areas of the North Island and the ranges of Eastern Bay of Plenty and Tairāwhiti,” the agency said.
A strong wind warning was also in
The Long Bay College sailing team made the most of the conditions at Milford Beach, Auckland.
effect for the Canterbury High Country, with gusts expected to reach 120km/h in exposed places.
MetService meteorologist Ngaire Wotherspoon said more warning areas could be added further north, and existing watches could be upgraded as they gather more information.
The agency said cold, strong southwesterly winds would follow the trough, spreading heavy showers and thunderstorms over southern and central Aotearoa.
“Hot temperatures occurred in eastern South Island areas over the weekend, so this cold southerly change will be felt keenly over the next couple of days. Alexandra had a high of 29C on Saturday, and by Tuesday they have a forecast high of 14C, and 4C overnight.”
Wotherspoon said large swells generated by strong southerlies were in store for the south and west coasts this afternoon, but would then die out tomorrow afternoon as the weather system shifted away from Aotearoa.
Wotherspoon said an end to the wild weather was on the horizon as a ridge of high pressure would settle over most of the country on Wednesday.