Heavy rain warning for already-hammered Wairoa area

MetService is predicting a wet Easter for Wairoa. Photo / File

Northern Hawke's Bay could be in for another heavy rain hammering with a warning issued on Monday by national weather agency MetService.

The warning was issued just after 10am, with expectations of 150-200mm of rain to accumulate in the Wairoa district in the 24 hours from 9pm on Tuesday – but possibly as much as 300mm.

The warning says there could be peaks of 15-25mm per hour, and possibly 35mm/h in isolated areas, while there is also a strong wind watch for the central and lower North Island from Waikato to Wellington, for southwest winds approaching gale force at times.

Flooding and slips could be expected in an area already struggling to start recovering from February and March rain, and storm damage in the last fortnight of last month reckoned to be even worse than that of Cyclone Bola, which devastated the East Coast and much of Hawke's Bay in March 1988.

Last month heavy rainfall was recorded in some areas over little more than 8 days, including the Ruakituri Valley northwest of Wairoa, where a bridge is out of action, some roads are still closed and farmers are facing hundreds of slips, damage to tracks and fencing and difficulties accessing and moving stock.

An aerial photograph of the damage to Ruakituri roads in the Wairoa District following the early April rain that lasted more than a week. Photos / Wairoa District Council staff

The new warnings, also covering Bay of Plenty and the East Coast Gisborne area, come after about five days of MetService monitoring of the progress of Tropical Cyclone Fili from north of New Caledonia that had been downgraded to become Cyclone Fili and now ex-tropical cyclone.

MetService had initially said last week that plotting the course and strength of Fili was difficult, and was unable at that time to predict any impact on New Zealand.

While a fine start to Easter in Hawke's Bay had been previously forecast, MetService is now predicting Wairoa will have an easing of the warning conditions on Good Friday but rain throughout the rest of the weekend.

There's a similar forecast for the Eastern Rangitaiki area between Napier and Taupo, but mainly fine weather was forecast for the area from Napier to Dannevirke on Friday and Saturday.