Winds to blow gloom away
Strong winds today herald a belated start to summer, which the capital has been longing for.
After a week of muggy nights, drizzle and gloomy skies, Wellington is set for a stretch of fine weather.
MetService meteorologist Andrew James says cool, dry air from the Southern Ocean will blow out the humid, tropical air that has been hanging over much of the North Island.
Northwesterlies will hit the capital today, bringing gusts of up to 120kmh in exposed places before easing in the evening.
While the Black Caps and the West Indies captains will decide who bowls into the wind on day one of the cricket test at the Basin Reserve, fine weather and temperatures in the mid to late teens are forecast for the remainder of the match.
‘‘The signals are good for the capital with a fine spell of weather. It should stick around through to next week,’’ James said. ‘‘We can look forward to maybe a few barbecues next week.’’
Yesterday, heavy rain in the region closed a school and brought down slips.
At Paremata School, the rain
had eased by 10.30am but the school was closed after sewage got into the playground.
Principal Bryce Coleman said sewage had flooded a netball court and an area behind some classrooms. Flooding had been an issue at the school since the 1950s whenever the high tide coincided with heavy rains.
The sewage pumping station across the road would overflow,
sending a wave of sewage onto the school grounds. It had happened about four times in the past nine years. ‘‘It’s just smelly out there,’’ Coleman said.
The water was a murky greyish colour, like the water in the sink after washing a big load of dirty dishes.
The clean-up, expected to take 24 hours, involved disinfecting and water-blasting the grounds.
The school planned to reopen today but the affected area would be cordoned off.
A Porirua City Council spokesman said crews from Wellington Water, the council and Downer were busy in Plimmerton, Titahi Bay, Elsdon, Cannons Creek and Whitby clearing debris from culverts and dealing with wastewater overflows.
Slips and a fallen tree closed Akatarawa Rd, which connects Upper Hutt to Kāpiti Coast, for a time and motorists were advised to take an alternative route.
Several slips fell on Paekākāriki Hill Rd, which was closed for most of the day, as was Grays Rd.
Emergency services responded to rockfall that hit a vehicle at 9.10am on State Highway 1 in Paekākāriki. The road was blocked while debris and the vehicle were cleared away.
Almost 300 households in the Hautere/Te Horo community on the Kāpiti Coast have been told to boil their tap water before drinking it, using it in food preparation or to brush their teeth, until further notice as a precaution.
Kāpiti Coast District Council infrastructure services group manager Sean Mallon said downpours had made the water cloudier than normal, which meant they couldn’t be sure the UV treatment process had killed all the micro-organisms in the water.