Yachting death in wild seas
MetService issues severe warnings of wind gusts and rain for the week ahead
Six-metre swells and gusts of up to 50 knots contributed to the death of one man and left a woman critical yesterday after a yacht they were in sank off the Northland coast.
The occupants of a 47-foot yacht were floundering in choppy seas 20km north of Cape Brett and made a distress call about 12.40pm yesterday.
A Coastguard Bay of Islands Rescue vessel, a Navy Seasprite helicopter, an Air Force Orion aircraft and a Westpac Rescue Helicopter from Auckland were dispatched.
The Orion located the four people in the water around 2.47pm and dropped a raft, before the Westpac Rescue Helicopter winched them up, but one man died and one woman is in a critical condition. Two others were moderately injured and were admitted to Whangārei Hospital.
MetService last night issued a number of severe weather warnings for the week ahead, including for strong winds of up to 120km/h and heavy rain covering the North Island.
Weather experts say the lowpressure system that hit Northland yesterday and ripped through Auckland last night will make its way down the North Island in coming days.
In the South Island, Marlborough will also get some rain today, and there will be cloud and showers for Canterbury.
However, it will be largely fine for the west and south of the South Island.
As the system tapers off tomorrow, there will be a couple of more “settled” days, when the winds and rain ease, before two more fronts hit the country — one from the south and another to hit Northland, before moving south.
Temperatures would be average for the time of year for most of the country.
Auckland is forecast to reach a high of 19C today and 18C tomorrow.
Christchurch is likely to be one of the cooler cities as it gets down to 13C today but will jump up to 17C by tomorrow.
The NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) was advising motorists in the upper North Island to take extra care on the road as driving conditions may be hazardous.
Coromandel Peninsula was forecast to receive heavy rain until 11pm today, which could cause streams and rivers to rise rapidly, NZTA said.