Tolaga Bay was inundated by forestry debris and silt following cyclone Hale. Video / Ben Cowper
A vicious cyclone that has battered large parts of the North Island is headed out the door, according to MetService - but we’re not under blue skies yet.
Ex Cyclone Hale dumped heavy rain in the Coromandel and caused surface flooding in Whangārei, as storm damage left homes without power and seaside reserves submerged in water.
Roads in the Coromandel were badly hit with floods, slips made driving tricky in some areas of the district.
In positive news for the country, the worst of what Hale has to offer has already been and gone - with the remainders hovering over the Waikato and southern parts of Hamilton.
As a result, an orange-level Heavy Rain Warning has been issued by MetService for Waikato and south Hamilton, including Waitomo.
The warning is valid until 1pm, with the region forecast to receive up to 60mm of rainfall in a five-hour period.
Ex Cyclone Hale dumped heavy rain in the Coromandel and caused surface flooding in Whangārei. Photo / Tania Whyte
However, it provides a much-needed breather for residents on the east coast of the North Island, where Corrigan said showery weather in parts of Gisborne will be “few and far between”.
On the other hand, it does mean Auckland is set for a taste of the rain systems currently pouring down over Waikato.
“Unfortunately, the rain over the Waikato will spread more over Auckland this morning, parts of it already have,” said Corrigan.
“That zone will shift eastwards to the Eastern Bay of Plenty and Coromandel, but by that point it won’t be that heavy.”
Headed into the weekend, MetService forecasts that most populated areas of New Zealand will have a mixture of sunshine and cloud. Corrigan said showers will pop over the Gisborne Ranges over the coming days.
Auckland, which has been without sunshine for large parts of recent weeks despite the summer season, can expect showers to clear over Friday morning with cloudy spells to follow.
The weekend will see some parts of the populous city receive showers, while others will escape.
“Some parts of the big smoke will see rain, others might now - it won’t affect everybody, just a minority,” said Corrigan.
An orange-level Heavy Rain Warning has been issued by MetService for Waikato and south Hamilton, including Waitomo. Photo / MetService
The Hawke’s Bay, the Southern Alps and Canterbury Hills will also see some showers over the weekend, with the Hawke’s Bay experiencing set for unusually cool temperatures to come.
“Gisborne and the Hawke’s Bay will see an average high or 20 or 21C, whereas normally in January it’s around the 23 or 24 mark,” said Corrigan.
“So a little cooler than average, particularly in those places.”
This is juxtaposed with the South Island’s Hokitika, which has seen three of its top five temperatures ever recorded in the past week.
The South Island region experienced a 28.8C summer day on Wednesday, while last weekend saw both days exceed 28C. Corrigan explained this is due to the movement of easterly winds during the cyclone.
Thames Coromandel District Council described Cyclone Hale as a “one-in-20-year event” after a briefing with MetService and Waikato Regional Council, who warned to expect rainfall figures across the region to total 400mm.
Civil Defence controller Greg Shelton said the river in Gisborne was rising rapidly on Tuesday night.
This posed a major risk of thousands of hectares of farmland and property being damaged, as it threatened to reach a record-breaking level that would trigger mandatory evacuations.
