Severe thunderstorms down trees, flood roads
Severe storms rolled across the country again after thunderstorms and heavy rainfall downed trees and flooded roads in Auckland on Saturday.
Thunderstorms and lightning strikes had been seen across Northland, Auckland, Waikato, the central North Island, Wairarapa and the Southern Alps yesterday afternoon, MetService meteorologist Jessie Owen said.
‘‘The strongest band of thunderstorms at the moment is in a line down from Northland, eastern Auckland and into the Waikato. That line is going to continue to move eastwards throughout this afternoon, and that’s probably where the worst of those thunderstorms are going to be,’’ Owen said.
Yesterday morning, a tornado ripped through north Taranaki at the same time a strong thunderstorm was detected in the area, leaving properties damaged and power lines down.
Thunderstorms travelled southward over Auckland on Saturday evening, bringing surface flooding and triggering more than 50 weather-related call-outs, according to Fire and Emergency. Trees were downed and damage was reported across several suburbs.
Further south, heavy rainfall also caused flooding and road closures in Christchurch on Friday and Saturday. MetService reported that the city’s airport weather station received over one month’s worth of rain on Saturday morning.
Warm weather is also set to stick around until midweek, with temperatures sitting a few degrees above average in places, said Owen. ‘‘Heading further into the week, from about Wednesday onwards, we’re going to see a bit of a drop to around about average.’’