Auckland next in the firing line as big storm hits
Mainlanders are facing another drenching today amid an ongoing “significant rain event” and as the weather system moves north, Auckland will see widespread rain set in through the day and gales in the evening.
Power cuts, landslides, and road closures struck around the West Coast yesterday with over 500mm of rainfall recorded in 24 hours in places. MetService-issued weather warnings will last until tomorrow.
Downpours continued last night, with the West Coast Emergency Management group staffing its emergency operations centre continually to keep local communities up-to-date.
The heavy rain will shift north today, hitting the Tasman, Nelson and Marlborough regions in particular, the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (Niwa) said.
Over 400mm of rain could fall over the Tasman throughout today, prompting Niwa to warn of flash flooding from quickly rising rivers. The Department of Conservation has cancelled hut bookings on trails in the area and issued alerts to trampers.
A king tide would coincide with a high swell around the Golden Bay and Tasman, posing a threat of flooding around the coast and erosion.
Eighteen heavy rain and strong wind watches and warnings were in place around the country, with most of the South Island on alert.
A heavy rain watch will come into force in Northland from 6pm today and last until 6am tomorrow. Taranaki is under a strong wind watch from 3pm until 6am tomorrow, as is Wellington from 6pm until 6am tomorrow.
MetService forecast scattered rain in Auckland developing this morning, and becoming widespread late evening. Metservice also said strong northeasterlies could gust to 90km/ h in the evening.
Rain should remain in Auckland into tomorrow, with heavy falls easing to a few showers in the evening and northerlies turning lighter in the afternoon. From Saturday, the outlook is fine.
As well as shifting north, the West Coast’s rain was also tipped to move east towards Otago and Canterbury.
Christchurch should see today start with a few spots of rain, before it becomes more persistent in the evening, MetService said. Tomorrow, which would see a dramatic dip in high temperatures from 23C the day before to 15C, would see ran clear in the afternoon.
Dunedin will see occasional rain this morning become persistent in the afternoon with increasing low cloud. Rain should clear through tomorrow afternoon, but temperatures will also drop from 19C today to 11C tomorrow.
Yesterday, State Highway 6 between Fox Glacier and Franz Josef closed due to a slip which happened overnight on Tuesday.
West Coast Fire and Emergency announced it has backup from other regions to help manage the extreme weather.
“Our home team is always ready to support our communities and we’ve also brought some additional resources from Canterbury to Westland to lend a hand,” a West Coast Fire and Emergency Facebook post said.