Auckland weather: Warning of severe thunderstorms, torrential rain

Severe thunderstorms are moving into Auckland and are expected to arrive on the North Shore before moving closer to the city centre.

”These thunderstorms are expected to be accompanied by torrential rain,” Metservice warned.

At 6:45 pm, MetService’s weather radar detected severe thunderstorms near central Auckland and the suburbs of Albany, Dairy Flat, Whangaparāoa and Coatsville, and these were expected to head south and hit Papakura and Drury around 7:45pm.

Torrential rain can cause surface and/or flash flooding about streams, gullies and urban areas, and make driving conditions extremely hazardous.

Severe thunderstorms moving towards Auckland were expected to near Orewa, Albany, Dairy Flat, Whangaparoa and Silverdale before moving closer to the city centre. Photo / MetService

‘Dramatic’ weather pummels Whangārei

Residents in some parts of Whangārei say their homes and workplaces have flooded after a strange and short-lived bout of heavy rain and thunderstorms hit this afternoon.

MetService forecaster Gerard Bellam said Water St in downtown Whangārei received 28.2mm of rainfall in the short burst around 4pm today.

A woman was in her Woodhill home when all of a sudden rain started pelting the wall 3m away from the windows it was pouring in through.

“It literally went horizontal,” she said.

The woman described a “peculiar” swirling wind that seemed to look like a tornado.

She shared a photo of the dark, grey skies online.

“It was to make sure I wasn’t going crazy and other people saw what I did.”

And those in central Whangārei did. However, many closer to the city’s outskirts - such as Kamo - missed the wild weather and continued to bask in the day’s sunshine.

Locals shared hearing loud peals of thunder.

“[...] the wind was sideways and I couldn’t see out the windows, incredible amount of rain, and a thunderclap right over the house. Frightening,” one Facebook user commented.

Others reported the intense downpour had partially submerged some roads in the city centre, workplaces downtown had flooded as had some homes.

“Was like driving into a solid wall of water on Maunu. Nuts,” a comment read.

One woman’s backyard was submerged in rainwater that reached the bottom of the steps to her home.

Auckland to be as humid as Singapore as warm wet air lingers

The warning comes as hot warm air from further towards the equator lingers around the north of the country, bringing balmy temperatures and soupy air.

MetService does not provide hour-by-hour humidity predictions, but according to Weather.com humidity in the City of Sails will hit a shirt-dampening 91 per cent as dawn breaks on Monday, the same figure the website predicts for Singapore at 7am local time.

On Friday, MetService observed that Hamilton’s humidity had hit 80 per cent with a dew-point of 21C and a temperature of 24C, comparable conditions to those experienced in the tropical latitudes and a far higher dew-point than is normal in New Zealand’s temperate climate.

Auckland is predicted to hit a high of 24C on Monday with light winds and isolated showers developing in the afternoon, possibly heavy.

Tuesday is predicted to be partly cloudy with the same high and a few showers clearing in the evening.

MetService forecaster Sonya Farmer said this week a moist northerly flow with embedded fronts would continue to affect the North Island.

“At the same time we’ve got a cold front moving to the South Island, which weakens on Tuesday,” she said.

“Out to the west of the country, we’ve got a complex low that crosses the North Island and Wednesday and then moves away to the east on Thursday.

“But we still have a trough affecting the South Island. so that means going forward, there is not a lot in the way of sunshine going on.”