Rain to subside as freezing temperatures set in

A car submerged in water after Wanganui's worst recorded floods. Photo / Wanganui Chronicle

Rain that has caused flooding in areas of the lower North Island has finally eased off, however it looks set to be replaced with freezing temperatures which will bring more snow to areas down south this week.

MetService meteorologist Emma Blades said the big system that was bringing heavy rain had now moved off to the east of the country.

"We are left with a few showers, but nothing significant that is going to cause any more flooding. All the warnings and watches for all the heavy rain has been lifted.

"What we are left with a now is we are going to have a southerly flow develop over the country, and that's going to make the temperatures drop.

"It's going to be cold this week particularly for the South Island, we are going to see some really really chilly temperatures down there, some severe frosts overnight, and some snow coming to the south."

Ms Blades said a watch had been issued this morning for heavy snow in south Fiordland, Southland, and southern parts of Otago including Clutha and Dunedin.

"That is for snow to accumulate above 200m from this evening until Monday morning."
Areas around Canterbury Plains north of Ashburton were likely to get snow near to sea level, she said.

"That could be heavy especially at the Port HIlls and Banks Peninsula."

Ms Blades said it would not be as significant as this week's snow event.

"It's a different kind of system, that had moist air over the top and then it was cold underneath.

"This is just cold, showery stuff coming up from the Antarctic, so it's unlikely to reach warning levels, however we are just keeping an eye on it, because it could possibly cause some disruption to transport if it falls in the urban areas."

Yesterday around 450 homes in Canterbury were still without power, as a build-up of snow and ice on lines, as well as tree branches being weighed down on lines, caused outages across the area.

Electricity lines company, Orion said it hoped to have power fully restored to all households by Monday.

The weather was looking better in Auckland day, with plenty of fine breaks today, Ms Blades said.

"There is the odd shower hanging around, but generally it's quite a nice day. Going through to tomorrow there might still be a couple of showers hanging around early morning, but it is going to clear in the afternoon. It's going to be lovely up in Auckland tomorrow."

Horizons Regional Council incident controller Craig Grant said while state of local emergencies remained in place for both the Whanganui and Rangitikei Districts, as the rain eased rivers were receding, allowing crews to turn their focus to community welfare and damage assessment.

"The Whanganui River experienced its highest flows on record at a peak of 9.1 metres and a flow of 4,690 cubic metres per second at 3am at Town Bridge.

This equates to a one in 100 year flood," Mr Grant said.

"Flood waters over-topped the Anzac Parade stopbanks in Wanganui at around midnight last night and water levels are not expected to recede until 10am today."

Mr Grant said they would also be looking to ascertain the level of damage, as well as any residual risk to the region's flood protection network.

Today's forecast:
Whangarei: The odd shower. Southwesterlies. High 16C Low 8C
Auckland: Few showers. Southwest winds. High 15C Low 10C
Hamilton: Cloudy periods, the odd shower. Southwesterlies. High 15C Low 6C
Tauranga: Fine spells. Southwesterlies. High 17C Low 7C
Wellington: Fine, northwest. Evening showers, late Southerly. High 12C Low 5C
Christchurch: A fine day. Evening showers, turn to snow. Northwesterly turns Southwesterly. High 11C Low 0C

- NZME, MetService